Cover member and display apparatus

ABSTRACT

Included are a first cover base including an alkali glass layer, a first alkali-free glass layer provided on one face of the alkali glass layer, and a second alkali-free glass layer provided on another face of the alkali glass layer and a sensor that is provided on the first alkali-free glass layer of the first cover base and includes a plurality of first electrodes configured to detect the unevenness of a surface of an object to be detected that comes into contact with or close to the first cover base and a switching element. At least the first electrodes are formed above the first alkali-free glass layer and in a transmissive area that passes an image.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Continuation of application Ser. No.16/366,400, filed Mar. 27, 2019, which is a Continuation of applicationSer. No. 15/642,792, filed Jul. 6, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,282,029,issued on May 7, 2019, which claims priority from Japanese ApplicationNo. 2016-137132, filed on Jul. 11, 2016, the contents of which areincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a cover member and a displayapparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

Some display apparatuses including a liquid crystal panel or the likemay include a fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor detects acapacitance change responsive to the unevenness of a fingerprint todetect the shape of the fingerprint of a finger that has come intocontact with the display apparatus (Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-open Publication No. 2001-52148 A (JP-A-2001-52148), for example).A detection result of the fingerprint sensor is used for personalauthentication, for example. A cover glass for protecting the liquidcrystal panel or the like is provided on the surface of the fingerprintsensor, and a finger is brought into contact with or close to thesurface of the cover glass, whereby the fingerprint sensor can detectthe fingerprint.

When a fingerprint sensor is arranged on a display area of the liquidcrystal panel, the cover glass is arranged in between the fingerprintsensor and a finger. Given this situation, the distance between thefinger and the fingerprint sensor is long, which may make it difficultto obtain favorable detection sensitivity. The fingerprint readingapparatus described in JP-A-2001-52148 includes detection electrodes fordetecting fingerprints and the liquid crystal panel in an integralmanner. Consequently, when the cover glass is provided on the liquidcrystal panel, the distance between the surface of the cover glass andthe detection electrodes is long, which may reduce detectionperformance.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect, a cover member includes a first cover base thatcomprises an alkali glass layer, a first alkali-free glass layerprovided on one face of the alkali glass layer, and a second alkali-freeglass layer that is provided on another face of the alkali glass layer,and a sensor that is provided on the first alkali-free glass layer ofthe first cover base and comprises a plurality of first electrodesconfigured to detect unevenness of a surface of an object to be detectedthat comes into contact with or close to the first cover base and aswitching element. At least the first electrodes are formed above thefirst alkali-free glass layer and in a transmissive area that passes animage.

According to one aspect, a display apparatus includes a cover memberthat includes a first cover base that comprises an alkali glass layer, afirst alkali-free glass layer provided on one face of the alkali glasslayer, and a second alkali-free glass layer that is provided on anotherface of the alkali glass layer, and a sensor that is provided on thefirst alkali-free glass layer of the first cover base and comprises aplurality of first electrodes configured to detect unevenness of asurface of an object to be detected that comes into contact with orclose to the first cover base and a switching element. At least thefirst electrodes are formed above the first alkali-free glass layer andin a transmissive area that passes an image, and a display panel thatcomprises a display functional layer configured to display an image andthat is provided at a position overlapping with the transmissive areawhen viewed in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the first coverbase, the display panel facing the second alkali-free glass layer of thefirst cover base.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a display apparatus according to a firstembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the line II-II′ in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of afingerprint sensor;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of adisplay panel;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a configuration example of a detectionapparatus including the finger sensor;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative diagram for illustrating the basic principleof touch detection of a self-capacitance type;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of examples of waveforms of a drive signal and adetection signal of touch detection of the self-capacitance type;

FIG. 8 is a plan view schematically illustrating an entire configurationof first electrodes, a second electrode, gate lines, and signal lines ofthe fingerprint sensor according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of a configuration of the firstelectrodes and wires in an enlarged manner;

FIG. 10 is a timing waveform diagram of the fingerprint sensor accordingto the first embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a plan view for illustrating a configuration of the firstelectrodes and switching elements;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view along the line XII-XII′ in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a cover member according a firstmodification of the first embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a schematic plan view of a fingerprint sensor of a covermember according to a second modification of the first embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a schematic plan view of a fingerprint sensor of a covermember according to a third modification of the first embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a schematic plan view of a fingerprint sensor of a covermember according to a fourth modification of the first embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a sectional view along the line XVII-XVII′ in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of adisplay apparatus according to a fifth modification of the firstembodiment;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a configuration example of a displayapparatus according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 20 is an illustrative diagram for illustrating the basic principleof touch detection of a mutual capacitance type;

FIG. 21 is an illustrative diagram of an example of an equivalentcircuit for illustrating the basic principle of touch detection of themutual capacitance type;

FIG. 22 is a diagram of examples of waveforms of a drive signal and adetection signal of touch detection of the mutual capacitance type;

FIG. 23 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of thedisplay apparatus according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 24 is a schematic plan view for illustrating the relation betweendrive electrodes and third electrodes according to the presentembodiment;

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram for illustrating touch detectionoperation according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 26 is a schematic plan view of a detection function-equippeddisplay device according to a first modification of the secondembodiment;

FIG. 27 is a schematic plan view of a detection function-equippeddisplay device according to a second modification of the secondembodiment;

FIG. 28 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of adisplay apparatus according to a third embodiment;

FIG. 29 is schematic plan view of a cover member according to the thirdembodiment;

FIG. 30 is a plan view illustrating the relation among first electrodes,third electrodes, and various wires according to the third embodiment inan enlarged manner;

FIG. 31 is a sectional view schematically illustrating a sectionalstructure of a fingerprint detection area, a dummy electrode area, and adetection electrode area;

FIG. 32 is a block diagram of a configuration example of a detectionapparatus that a display apparatus according to a fourth embodimentincludes;

FIG. 33 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of thedisplay apparatus according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 34 is a plan view of a cover member according to the fourthembodiment;

FIG. 35 is a plan view schematically illustrating an entireconfiguration of second electrodes and conductive wires;

FIG. 36 is a plan view schematically illustrating an entireconfiguration of the first electrodes, the second electrodes, the gatelines, and the signal lines;

FIG. 37 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of adisplay apparatus according to a fifth embodiment;

FIG. 38 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of adisplay apparatus according to a sixth embodiment;

FIG. 39 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of afingerprint sensor according to the sixth embodiment;

FIG. 40 is an illustrative diagram for illustrating the relation betweenthe arrangement of pixels of a display apparatus and the arrangement ofdrive electrodes and detection electrodes according to a modification ofthe sixth embodiment;

FIG. 41 is a plan view schematically illustrating a coupling structureof the drive electrodes and drive signal lines and a coupling structureof the detection electrodes and detection lines according to themodification of the sixth embodiment;

FIG. 42 is a sectional view along the line XLII-XLII′ in FIG. 41; and

FIG. 43 is a sectional view along the line XLIII-XLIII′ in FIG. 41.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following describes forms (embodiments) for performing the presentinvention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Thepresent invention is not limited to the details described in thefollowing embodiments. Components described below include ones thatthose skilled in the art can easily think of and substantially the sameones. Further, the components described below can be combined asappropriate. The disclosure is only by way of example, and someappropriate modifications that can be easily thought of with the gist ofthe invention maintained by those skilled in the art are naturallyincluded in the scope of the present invention. The drawings mayschematically illustrate the width, thickness, shape, and the like ofthe components compared with actual forms in order to further clarifythe description; they are only by way of example and do not limit theinterpretation of the present invention. In the present specificationand the drawings, components similar to those previously described withreference to the drawings previously described are denoted by the samesymbols, and detailed descriptions thereof may be omitted asappropriate.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a display apparatus according to a firstembodiment. FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the line II-II′ in FIG. 1.As illustrated in FIG. 2, this display apparatus 1 of the presentembodiment includes a cover member 10 and a display panel 30. The covermember 10 is a member protecting the display panel 30 and is providedcovering the display panel 30. As illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, thecover member 10 has a transmissive area Ad that passes an image of thedisplay panel 30, a frame area Gd provided outside the transmissive areaAd, and a fingerprint detection area Fd overlapping with part of thetransmissive area Ad. In the present embodiment, the fingerprintdetection area Fd is a rectangular area along the short side of thetransmissive area Ad and is an area for detecting the unevenness of thesurface of an object to be detected such as a fingerprint of a fingerthat comes into contact with or close to the cover member 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the cover member 10 includes a first coverbase 101, a second cover base 102, and a fingerprint sensor 20. Thefirst cover base 101 is a plate-shaped member having a first face 101 aand a second face 101 b on a side opposite to the first face 101 a. Thesecond cover base 102 is a plate-shaped member having a first face 102 aand a second face 102 b on a side opposite to the first face 102 a. Thefirst face 101 a of the first cover base 101 is arranged facing thesecond face 102 b of the second cover base 102 with an adhesive layer 71interposed therebetween. The first face 102 a of the second cover base102 is a detection face for detecting fine unevenness of the surface ofthe object to be detected such as a fingerprint of a finger that comesinto contact therewith or close thereto and is a display face throughwhich a viewer visually recognizes the image of the display panel 30having passed through the transmissive area Ad. The fingerprint sensor20 is provided in between the first cover base 101 and the second coverbase 102. The display panel 30 is laminated on the second face 101 bside of the first cover base 101 with an adhesive layer 72 interposedtherebetween.

The first cover base 101 includes an alkali glass layer 103, a firstalkali-free glass layer 104, and a second alkali-free glass layer 105.The first alkali-free glass layer 104 is provided on a first face 103 aof the alkali glass layer 103, whereas the second alkali-free glasslayer 105 is provided on a second face 103 b on a side opposite to thefirst face 103 a. The upper face of the first alkali-free glass layer104 forms the first face 101 a of the first cover base 101, whereas thelower face of the second alkali-free glass layer 105 forms the secondface 101 b of the first cover base 101.

The alkali glass layer 103, the first alkali-free glass layer 104, andthe second alkali-free glass layer 105 can be simultaneously integratedand formed by a known method such as the fusion process. The fusionprocess is a process that pours fused glass into a fusion pipe and pullsdownward the overflowing fused glass to form it into a plate shape. Themethod for forming the first cover base 101 is not limiting; the alkaliglass layer 103, the first alkali-free glass layer 104, and the secondalkali-free glass layer 105 may be formed by separate processes.

For the first alkali-free glass layer 104 and the second alkali-freeglass layer 105, used are glass materials that do not substantiallycontain alkali metal oxides such as lithium oxide (Li₂O), sodium oxide(Na₂O), and potassium oxide (K₂O). In other words, the first alkali-freeglass layer 104 and the second alkali-free glass layer 105 do notcontain any alkali metal oxides other than impurities of raw materialsand alkali metal oxides mixed in a manufacturing process and the like.

The first alkali-free glass layer 104 and the second alkali-free glasslayer 105 are smaller in a coefficient of thermal expansion than that ofthe alkali glass layer 103. For this reason, in forming the first coverbase 101, the amount of in-plane contraction of the alkali glass layer103 is larger than those of the first alkali-free glass layer 104 andthe second alkali-free glass layer 105, and in-plane tensile stress isapplied to the first alkali-free glass layer 104 and the secondalkali-free glass layer 105 from the alkali glass layer 103. Compressivestress layers are formed on the first alkali-free glass layer 104 on thefirst face 101 a side and the second alkali-free glass layer 105 on thesecond face 101 b side, whereby the strength of the first cover base 101is increased.

A glass material of the same composition is preferably used for thefirst alkali-free glass layer 104 and the second alkali-free glass layer105. In this case, the first alkali-free glass layer 104 and the secondalkali-free glass layer 105 have substantially the same coefficient ofthermal expansion, thereby lessening the occurrence of warps in thefirst cover base 101. However, this is not limiting; glass materialswith different compositions may be respectively used for the firstalkali-free glass layer 104 and the second alkali-free glass layer 105.To lessen the occurrence of warps, the first alkali-free glass layer 104and the second alkali-free glass layer 105 preferably have the samethickness; however, the first alkali-free glass layer 104 and the secondalkali-free glass layer 105 may have different thicknesses each other.

The second cover base 102 is tempered glass using alkali glass. Examplesof the tempered glass include, but are not limited to, chemicallytempered glass that forms a compressive stress layer on the surface byreplacing sodium (Na) ions on the surface of glass with potassium (K)ions having a larger ion radius and tempered glass that forms acompressive stress layer on the surface by feeding air to a heated glasssubstrate and quenching it. The second cover base 102 may be six-sidetempered glass. The second cover base 102 is not limited to the temperedglass using alkali glass and can be sapphire glass or translucentceramic (ceramic glass), for example. Using the sapphire glass or thetranslucent ceramic can increase the strength and hardness of the secondcover base 102.

In the present embodiment, a thickness ts1 of the first cover base 101is larger than a thickness ts2 of the second cover base 102. Thethickness ts1 of the first cover base 101 can be 0.5 mm, for example.The thickness ts2 of the second cover base 102 can be smaller than thethickness ts1 of the first cover base 101 and is 0.2 mm, for example. Inthe cover member 10 of the present embodiment, even when the thicknessts2 of the second cover base 102 is small, the first cover base 101 andthe second cover base 102 are laminated on each other with the adhesivelayer 71 interposed therebetween, whereby the cover member 10 is formedin what is called a laminated glass shape, resulting in ability tomaintain the strength of the cover member 10.

Both the cover member 10 and the display panel 30 are not limited to berectangular-shaped in a plan view and may be circular-shaped,elliptic-shaped, or special-shaped with part of these external shapesomitted. The cover member 10 and the display panel 30 may be differentin external shape such as a case in which the cover member 10 iscircular-shaped, whereas the display panel 30 is regularpolygonal-shaped. Further, the first cover base 101 and the second coverbase 102 may differ in external shape. The cover member 10 is notlimited to be plate-shaped, and a curved display having a curved surfacecan also be employed therefor such as a case in which the transmissivearea Ad is formed by a curved surface or the frame area Gd is curvedtoward the display panel 30.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in the frame area Gd, a decorationlayer 110 is provided on the second face 102 b of the second cover base102. The decoration layer 110 is a colored layer having lower lighttransmittance than that of the cover member 10 and can lessen thevisibility of wiring, circuits, and the like provided overlapping withthe frame area Gd by a viewer. The decoration layer 110, which isprovided on the second face 102 b in the example illustrated in FIG. 2,may be provided on the first face 102 a or provided on the first coverbase 101. The decoration layer 110 is not limited to a single layer andmay be formed by laminating a plurality of layers together.

The fingerprint sensor 20 is a detector configured to detect theunevenness of the surface of an object to be detected such as afingerprint of a finger that comes into contact with or close to thefirst face 102 a of the second cover base 102. As illustrated in FIG. 2,the fingerprint sensor 20 is provided on the first face 101 a of thefirst cover base 101, that is, the first alkali-free glass layer 104.The fingerprint sensor 20 overlaps with the fingerprint detection areaFd and part of the frame area Gd when viewed in a directionperpendicular to the first face 101 a. A flexible board 76 is providedon the first alkali-free glass layer 104 in the frame area Gd, with thefingerprint sensor 20 electrically coupled to the flexible board 76. AnIC 18 for detection that controls the detection operation of thefingerprint sensor 20 is mounted on the flexible board 76.

The fingerprint sensor 20 is laminated on the second face 102 b of thesecond cover base 102 with the adhesive layer 71 interposedtherebetween. An end 20 a of the fingerprint sensor 20 is provided at aposition overlapping with the transmissive area Ad. A liquid adhesivehaving translucency is used for the adhesive layer 71, whereby the end20 a and an upper face 20 b of the fingerprint sensor 20 come inintimate contact with the adhesive layer 71 to be embedded in a resinlayer. Consequently, the occurrence of air bubbles can be lessenedbetween the adhesive layer 71 and the fingerprint sensor 20 at a stepbetween the end 20 a of the fingerprint sensor 20 and the firstalkali-free glass layer 104. An optical clear resin (OCR) as a liquidUV-curable resin can be used for the adhesive layer 71, for example. Theadhesive layer 71 is applied onto the fingerprint sensor 20 and thefirst face 101 a of the first cover base 101, is then laminated on thesecond cover base 102, and is cured by UV irradiation. The adhesivelayer 71 is adjusted to have viscosity enough to maintain a certainshape before being cured.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of thefingerprint sensor. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the fingerprint sensor 20has a thin film transistor (TFT) layer 22, first electrodes 25, and asecond electrode 26. The TFT layer 22 is provided on the firstalkali-free glass layer 104 of the first cover base 101. The TFT layer22 includes first switching elements Tr and various wires such as gatelines GCL and signal lines SGL.

The first electrodes 25 are provided on the upper side of the TFT layer22. The first electrodes 25 are detection electrodes of the fingerprintsensor 20 and output a detection signal Vdet responsive to a capacitancechange caused by the unevenness of the surface of the object to bedetected such as a fingerprint of a finger that comes into contacttherewith or close thereto. The detection signal Vdet output from thefirst electrodes 25 is output to the IC 18 for detection mounted on theflexible board 76 via the TFT layer 22. The second electrode 26 isprovided in between the first electrodes 25 and the TFT layer 22. Thesecond electrode 26 functions as a shield electrode for the firstelectrodes 25 to lessen a capacitance change caused by the existence ofan external object such as a finger and/or a capacitance change causedby electromagnetic noise and the like on a side of the first electrodes25 opposite to the second cover base 102.

An insulating layer 56 is provided in between the second electrode 26and the first electrodes 25. An insulating layer 57 is provided on thefirst electrodes 25. The insulating layer 57 is adjacent to the adhesivelayer 71 to cause the fingerprint sensor 20 and the second cover base102 to adhere to each other. In other words, from the side of the firstface 102 a of the second cover base 102 as the detection face of thecover member 10, the first electrodes 25, the second electrode 26, andthe TFT layer 22 are laminated in this order.

A translucent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) can beused for the first electrodes 25 and the second electrode 26. Thefingerprint sensor 20 is a sensor having translucency and can lessendegradation in the image quality of the display panel 30 even when it isprovided in part of or the entire transmissive area Ad.

The first electrodes 25 of the fingerprint sensor 20 detect thefingerprint based on a capacitance change caused by the fine unevennessof the surface of the finger. To obtain favorable detection sensitivity,the first electrodes 25 are preferably arranged at positions close tothe first face 102 a as the detection face. When only one glasssubstrate for protecting the fingerprint sensor 20 is provided on theupper face thereof, for example, the glass substrate is preferably madethinner in order to obtain favorable detection sensitivity.Specifically, the glass substrate preferably has a thickness of 0.3 mmor less. Meanwhile, when the thickness of the glass substrate is 0.5 mmor less, the glass substrate is generally prone to break.

In the present embodiment, the two glass substrates, or the first coverbase 101 and the second cover base 102, are provided, with thefingerprint sensor 20 arranged in between the first cover base 101 andthe second cover base 102. A pair of substrates are thus laminated oneach other with the fingerprint sensor 20 interposed therebetween. Withthis configuration, the cover member 10 is formed in what is called alaminated glass shape. Consequently, even when the second cover base 102is made thinner than 0.5 mm, the strength of the cover member 10 can bemaintained. The thickness of the second cover base 102 can be reduced to0.2 mm as described above, and accordingly the distance between thefirst electrodes 25 and the first face 102 a as the detection face isshort, making the distance to the surface of the finger as the object tobe detected short. With this configuration, favorable detectionsensitivity can be obtained. The first cover base 101 is on a side ofthe fingerprint sensor 20 opposite to the first face 102 a as thedetection face. With this configuration, even when the first cover base101 is made thicker, detection sensitivity does not reduce. The covermember 10 of the present embodiment can thus increase strength to lessenthe likelihood of breakage and obtain favorable detection sensitivity.

The TFT layer 22 is provided on the first alkali-free glass layer 104directly or with a passivation film interposed therebetween.Consequently, the pollution of the first switching elements Tr andsecond switching elements Trx included in the TFT layer 22 by alkalicomponents can be lessened. The first cover base 101 thus functions as acover member protecting the display panel 30 and is used as a sensorbase for mounting the fingerprint sensor 20 thereon.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the display panel 30 has a pixel substrate30A, a counter substrate 30B, a polarizing plate 34 provided on theunderside of the pixel substrate 30A, and a polarizing plate 35 providedon the upper side of the counter substrate 30B. An IC 19 for displaythat controls the display operation of the display panel 30 is coupledto the pixel substrate 30A with a flexible board 75 interposedtherebetween. In the present embodiment, the display panel 30 is aliquid crystal panel in which a liquid crystal display element is usedas a display functional layer; this is not limiting, and the displaypanel 30 may be an organic EL display panel, for example. The IC 18 fordetection and the IC 19 for display may be provided on a controlsubstrate outside a module. The IC 19 for display may be provided on afirst substrate 31 (refer to FIG. 4) of the pixel substrate 30A.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of thedisplay panel. The pixel substrate 30A includes the first substrate 31,pixel electrodes 32, and a common electrode 33. The common electrode 33is provided to the first substrate 31. The multiple pixel electrodes 32are provided on the upper side of the common electrode 33 with aninsulating layer 38 interposed therebetween in a matrix (row-columnconfiguration) manner in a plan view. The pixel electrodes 32 areprovided corresponding to sub-pixels forming respective pixels Pix ofthe display panel 30, and a pixel signal for performing displayoperation is supplied thereto. A DC drive signal for display is suppliedto the common electrode 33, which functions as a common electrode forthe pixel electrodes 32.

In the present embodiment, the common electrode 33, the insulating layer38, and the pixel electrodes 32 are laminated on the first substrate 31in this order. The polarizing plate 34 is provided on the underside ofthe first substrate 31 with an adhesive layer (not illustrated)interposed therebetween. TFTs as switching elements for display arearranged on the first substrate 31 (not illustrated in FIG. 4). Aconductive material having translucency such as ITO is used for thepixel electrodes 32 and the common electrode 33.

The arrangement of the pixel electrodes 32 is not limited tomatrix-shaped arrangement in which they are arranged in a firstdirection and a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, andadjacent pixel electrodes 32 can be arranged in a manner displaced inthe first direction or the second direction. Based on the difference inthe size of adjacent pixel electrodes 32, for one pixel electrode 32forming a pixel row arranged in the first direction, a plurality of, ortwo or three, pixel electrodes 32 can be arranged on one side of thepixel electrode 32.

The counter substrate 30B includes a second substrate 36 and a colorfilter 37 formed on one face of this second substrate 36. The colorfilter 37 faces a liquid crystal layer 6 in a direction perpendicular tothe first substrate 31. Further, the polarizing plate 35 is provided tothe second substrate 36 with an adhesive layer interposed therebetween.The color filter 37 may be arranged on the first substrate 31. In thepresent embodiment, the first substrate 31 and the second substrate 36are glass substrates or resin substrates, for example.

The liquid crystal layer 6 is provided in between the first substrate 31and the second substrate 36. The liquid crystal layer 6 modulates lightpassing therethrough in accordance with the state of an electric field,and liquid crystals of the transverse electric field mode such asin-plane switching (IPS) including fringe field switching (FFS) are usedtherefor, for example. An alignment film may be respectively arranged inbetween the liquid crystal layer 6 and the pixel substrate 30A and inbetween the liquid crystal layer 6 and the counter substrate 30Billustrated in FIG. 4.

An illuminator (a backlight device, not illustrated) is provided belowthe first substrate 31. The illuminator has a light source such as anLED and emits light from the light source toward the first substrate 31.The light from the illuminator passes through the pixel substrate 30A,and a part in which the light is shielded not to be emitted and a partin which the light is emitted are switched depending on the state of theliquid crystal at the position, whereby an image is displayed on thedisplay face (the first face 102 a).

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the display panel 30 is laminated on thesecond face 101 b of the first cover base 101 with the adhesive layer 72provided on the polarizing plate 35 interposed therebetween. Asdescribed above, the fingerprint sensor 20 is provided on the first face101 a of the first cover base 101. The fingerprint sensor 20 is thusarranged at a position closer to the first face 102 a as the detectionface than the display panel 30 in a direction perpendicular to the firstface 102 a of the second cover base 102. With this configuration,compared with a case in which detection electrodes for fingerprintdetection are provided integrally with the display panel 30, forexample, the distance between the first electrodes 25 as the detectionelectrodes and the first face 102 a as the detection face can bereduced. Consequently, the display apparatus 1 of the present embodimentcan improve detection performance.

An optical clear adhesive (OCA) is used for the adhesive layer 72, forexample. The optical clear adhesive is a translucent double-sidedadhesive tape in which adhesive layers are provided on both sides of afilm-shaped base. The above-described optical clear resin (OCR) may beused as the adhesive layer 72.

The following describes a detailed configuration of the fingerprintsensor 20. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a configuration example of adetection apparatus including the finger sensor. As illustrated in FIG.5, this detection apparatus 100 includes the fingerprint sensor 20, adetection controller 11, a gate driver 12, a first electrode driver 14,and a detector 40.

The fingerprint sensor 20 successively scans detection lines one by onein accordance with a scan signal Vscan supplied from the gate driver 12to perform detection. The fingerprint sensor 20 detects the unevennessof the surface of the object to be detected such as a fingerprint of afinger that comes into contact therewith or close thereto based onself-capacitance-type detection principle.

The detection controller 11 is a circuit that respectively suppliescontrol signals to the gate driver 12, the first electrode driver 14,and the detector 40 and performs control to cause these devices tooperate in sync with each other. The gate driver 12 successively selectsa first electrode block 25A including a plurality of first electrodes 25as objects of the detection drive of the fingerprint sensor 20 based onthe control signal supplied from the detection controller 11. The firstelectrode driver 14 supplies a drive signal Vf to the first electrodes25 as objects of the detection drive of the fingerprint sensor 20 basedon the control signal supplied from the detection controller 11.

The detector 40 is a circuit configured to detect the presence orabsence of a touch with a fine pitch based on the control signalsupplied from the detection controller 11 and the detection signal Vdetsupplied from the fingerprint sensor 20 via the first electrode driver14. The detector 40 includes a detection signal amplifier 42, an A/Dconverter 43, a signal processor 44, a coordinates extractor 45, acombination device 46, and a detection timing controller 47. Thedetection timing controller 47 performs control to cause the detectionsignal amplifier 42, the A/D converter 43, the signal processor 44, thecoordinates extractor 45, and the combination device 46 to operate insync with each other based on the control signal supplied from thedetection controller 11.

The detection signal Vdet is supplied to the detection signal amplifier42 of the detector 40 from the fingerprint sensor 20 via the firstelectrode driver 14. The detection signal amplifier 42 amplifies thedetection signal Vdet. The A/D converter 43 samples respective analogsignals output from the detection signal amplifier 42 with timingsynchronized with the drive signal Vf and converts them into digitalsignals.

The signal processor 44 is a logic circuit configured to detect thepresence or absence of a touch on the fingerprint sensor 20 based on theoutput signals of the A/D converter 43. The signal processor 44 performsprocessing to extract a differential signal (an absolute value |ΔV|) ofa detection signal by a finger. The signal processor 44 compares theabsolute value |ΔV| with a certain threshold voltage and determines thatan external close object is in a non-contact state if this absolutevalue |ΔV| is less than the threshold voltage. In contrast, if theabsolute value |ΔV| is the threshold voltage or more, the signalprocessor 44 determines that the external close object is in a contactstate. The detector 40 thus enables touch detection.

The coordinates extractor 45 is a logic circuit that, when a touch isdetected by the signal processor 44, determines its detectioncoordinates. The coordinates extractor 45 outputs the detectioncoordinates to the combination device 46. The combination device 46combines detection signals Vdet output from the fingerprint sensor 20 togenerate two-dimensional information indicating the shape of the objectthat comes into contact therewith or close thereto. The combinationdevice 46 outputs the two-dimensional information as output Vout of thedetector 40. Alternatively, the combination device 46 may generate animage based on the two-dimensional information, and image informationmay be the output Vout.

The above described IC 18 for detection (refer to FIG. 2) functions asthe detector 40 illustrated in FIG. 5. Part of the functions of thedetector 40 may be included in the IC 19 for display or provided asfunctions of an external micro-processing unit (MPU).

As described above, the fingerprint sensor 20 operates based on thebasic principle of capacitance-type touch detection. The followingdescribes the basic principle of touch detection by the self-capacitancetype of the fingerprint sensor of the present embodiment with referenceto FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. FIG. 6 is an illustrative diagram for illustratingthe basic principle of touch detection of the self-capacitance type.FIG. 6 illustrates a finger as an external object to be detected as anexample. FIG. 7 is a diagram of examples of waveforms of a drive signaland a detection signal of touch detection of the self-capacitance type.FIG. 6 illustrates a detection circuit together.

In a state in which the finger is well separate, an AC rectangular waveSg with a certain frequency (about a few kilohertz to a few hundredkilohertz, for example) is applied to a detection electrode E1. Thedetection electrode E1 has a capacitance C1 and passes a currentresponsive to the capacitance C1 therethrough. A voltage detector DETconverts fluctuations in current responsive to the AC rectangular waveSg into fluctuations in voltage (a solid line waveform V₄ (refer to FIG.7)).

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 6, with the finger in contact therewith orclose thereto, a capacitance C2 between the finger and the detectionelectrode E1 is applied to the capacitance C1 of the detection electrodeE1. Consequently, when the AC rectangular wave Sg is applied to thedetection electrode E1, a current responsive to the capacitance C1 andthe capacitance C2 passes. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the voltagedetector DET converts fluctuations in current responsive to the ACrectangular wave Sg into fluctuations in voltage (a dotted line waveformV₅). Based on the absolute value |ΔV| of the difference between thewaveform V₄ and the waveform V₅, the presence or absence of the finger(the presence or absence of a touch) can be measured.

Specifically, in FIG. 7, at time T₀₁, the AC rectangular wave Sg raisesa voltage level corresponding to a voltage V₀. At this moment, a switchSW1 is turned on, whereas a switch SW2 is turned off, and the potentialof the detection electrode E1 also rises to the voltage V₀. Next, beforetime T₁₁, the switch SW1 is turned off. At this moment, the detectionelectrode E1 is in a floating state, but the potential of the detectionelectrode E1 is maintained at V₀ by the capacitance C1 (or C1+C2, referto FIG. 6) of the detection electrode E1. Further, before time T₁₁,resetting operation of the voltage detector DET is performed.

Subsequently, when the switch SW2 is turned on at time T₁₁, electriccharges accumulated in the capacitance C1 (or C1+C2) of the detectionelectrode E1 move to a capacitance C3 within the voltage detector DET,and accordingly the output of the voltage detector DET rises (refer tothe detection signal Vdet in FIG. 7). When the finger or the like is notclose to the detection electrode E1, the output of the voltage detectorDET (the detection signal Vdet) is the waveform V₄ indicated by thesolid line, and Vdet=C1×V₀/C3. When capacitance by the influence of thefinger or the like is added, the output of the voltage detector DET (thedetection signal Vdet) is the waveform V₅ indicated by the dotted line,and Vdet=(C1+C2)×V₀/C3.

Subsequently, at time T₃₁, the switch SW2 is turned off, and the switchSW1 and a switch SW3 are turned on, whereby the potential of thedetection electrode E1 is turned to a low level, which is the samepotential as that of the AC rectangular wave Sg, and the voltagedetector DET is reset. The above operation is repeated with a certainfrequency (about a few kilohertz to a few hundred kilohertz, forexample).

FIG. 8 is a plan view schematically illustrating an entire configurationof the first electrodes, the second electrode, gate lines, and signallines of the fingerprint sensor according to the first embodiment. FIG.9 is a schematic plan view of a configuration of the first electrodesand wires in an enlarged manner. FIG. 8 is a top view of the first coverbase 101 of the cover member 10 when viewed from the second cover base102 side, in which the second cover base 102 is omitted for easyviewing.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the multiple first electrodes 25 of thefingerprint sensor 20 are arranged in a matrix manner on the firstalkali-free glass layer 104 of the first cover base 101 in thefingerprint detection area Fd as part of the transmissive area Ad. Thefirst electrodes 25 are each rhombic-shaped and are arranged so as tocause the respective sides of the rhombic shape to face each other.Although FIG. 8 illustrates only partial first electrodes 25 for easyviewing of the drawing, the first electrodes 25 may be provided in theentire fingerprint detection area Fd.

The second electrode 26 is provided continuously in the entirefingerprint detection area Fd overlapping with the first electrodes 25.In other words, each of the first electrodes 25 has a smaller area thanthe second electrode 26, and many first electrodes 25 are arranged forone second electrode 26. Although one second electrode 26 is provided inthe fingerprint detection area Fd in FIG. 8, a plurality of secondelectrodes 26 may be provided, in which the second electrodes 26 may bearranged in a matrix manner, for example.

As illustrated in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, a plurality of gate lines GCL and aplurality of signal lines SGL are provided overlapping with the secondelectrode 26. The gate lines GCL are inclined relative to a directionalong the long side of the transmissive area Ad. The signal lines SGLare inclined in a direction opposite to the gate lines GCL relative tothe direction along the long side of the transmissive area Ad. Thesignal lines SGL and the gate lines GCL cross each other to be arrangedin a mesh manner. The rhombic-shaped first electrodes 25 are provided inthe respective areas surrounded by the signal lines SGL and the gatelines GCL. Although each of the first electrode 25 is rhombic-shaped, inwhich the four sides are the same in length, this is not limiting; itmay be parallelogrammatic-shaped, rectangular-shaped, or square-shaped,for example.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, in the frame area Gd, circuitries 15A, 15B,and 15C including drive circuits such as the gate driver 12 and thefirst electrode driver 14 are formed on the first alkali-free glasslayer 104 of the first cover base 101. The gate driver 12 includes ascan signal generator that generates the scan signal Vscan and a gatescanner that selects any of the gate lines GCL. The first electrodedriver 14 includes a drive signal generator that generates the drivesignal Vf for detection and a selection circuit such as a multiplexerthat selects any of the signal lines SGL.

The circuitry 15A is provided in the frame area Gd on the short side ofthe frame area Gd, that is, the side to which the flexible board 76 iscoupled. On the short side of the frame area Gd, the signal lines SGL,the gate lines GCL, and the circuitry 15A are coupled to each other. Thecircuitry 15B is provided in one of the long sides of the frame area Gd,whereas the circuitry 15C is provided on the other of the long sides ofthe frame area Gd. The circuitries 15B and 15C are coupled to the signallines SGL and the gate lines GCL on the respective long side sides ofthe frame area Gd.

The circuitries 15B and 15C are electrically coupled to the circuitry15A via wires L1 and L2, respectively. The circuitries 15A, 15B, and 15Care electrically coupled to the flexible board 76 and operate on acontrol signal from the IC 18 for detection. The circuitries 15A, 15B,and 15C successively select the first electrodes 25 of the fingerprintdetection area Fd to be driven.

The circuitries 15A, 15B, and 15C and the first electrodes 25 are thusprovided on the first cover base 101. With this configuration, thelength of various wires that couple the circuitries 15A, 15B, and 15Cand the first electrodes 25 to each other can be reduced. Consequently,the responsivity of detection operation for the many first electrodes 25is improved, thereby improving detection performance.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the first switching elements Tr and the secondswitching elements Trx are provided at respective intersections of thesignal lines SGL and the gate lines GCL. The first switching elements Trand the second switching elements Trx are provided at respectivepositions corresponding to the first electrodes 25. The first switchingelements Tr can switch between coupling and isolation between the signallines SGL and the first electrodes 25. The second switching elements Trxcan switch between coupling and isolation between the first electrodes25 and the second electrode 26.

The first switching element Tr includes a thin film transistor andincludes an n-channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS)-type TFT in thisexample. The second switching element Trx performs switching operationopposite to that of the first switching element Tr. In this example, thesecond switching element Trx includes a p-channel MOS-type TFT. The samescan signal is supplied to the first switching elements Tr and thesecond switching elements Trx; when the scan signal is at a high level,the first switching elements Tr are turned on, whereas the secondswitching elements Trx are turned off, for example. When the scan signalis at a low level, the first switching elements Tr are turned off,whereas the second switching elements Trx are turned on.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the gate lines GCL are coupled to the gatedriver 12 provided on the first cover base 101. The gate driver 12successively selects a plurality of gate lines GCL(n), GCL(n+1), . . . ,GCL(n+4) illustrated in FIG. 9 and successively supplies the scan signalVscan to the selected gate lines GCL(n), GCL(n+1), . . . , GCL(n+4). Thefirst switching elements Tr are switched between on and off by the scansignal Vscan. The first electrodes 25 arranged along the gate lines GCLare selected as the first electrode block 25A as an object to bedetected, and a high-level scan signal Vscan is supplied to the firstswitching elements Tr corresponding to the respective first electrodes25 of the first electrode block 25A.

The signal lines SGL are coupled to the first electrode driver 14provided on the first cover base 101. The first electrode driver 14successively selects a plurality of signal lines SGL(m), SGL(m+1), . . ., SGL(m+4) and supplies the drive signal Vf to the selected signal linesSGL(m), SGL(m+1), . . . , SGL(m+4). With this operation, the drivesignal Vf is supplied to the respective first electrodes 25 of the firstelectrode block 25A as the object to be detected via the signal linesSGL and the first switching elements Tr. Upon being supplied with thedrive signal Vf, the respective first electrodes 25 output a signalresponsive to a capacitance change to the IC 18 for detection via thesignal lines SGL. With this operation, the fingerprint of the fingerthat comes into contact therewith or close thereto can be detected. Thefirst electrodes 25 correspond to the detection electrode E1 in thebasic principle of touch detection of the self-capacitance type.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, a conductive wire 51 is coupled to the secondelectrode 26 through a contact hole H1. In the present embodiment, oneconductive wire 51 is coupled to one second electrode 26. The conductivewire 51 is routed from the fingerprint detection area Fd to the framearea Gd and is coupled to the circuitries 15A, 15B, and 15C (refer toFIG. 8). The circuitries 15A, 15B, and 15C supply a guard signal Vsgl tothe conductive wire 51. The guard signal Vsgl is a voltage signal thatis in sync with and has the same waveform as the drive signal Vf. Theguard signal Vsgl is a voltage signal for lessening a capacitance changebetween the first electrodes 25 and the second electrode 26 when thedrive signal Vf is supplied. The guard signal Vsgl having the samewaveform as that of the drive signal Vf supplied to the first electrodes25 is supplied in sync with the second electrode 26. With thisoperation, the second electrode 26 facing the first electrodes 25 isoscillated at the same potential as that of the first electrodes 25.With this operation, parasitic capacitance between the first electrodes25 and the second electrode 26 when the drive signal Vf is supplied isreduced. Consequently, degradation in the detection sensitivity of thefingerprint sensor 20 can be lessened. Thus, in the present embodiment,the second electrode 26 functions as a shield electrode for the firstelectrodes 25.

Although the central part of the second electrode 26 is coupled to theconductive wire 51 in FIG. 9, an end of the second electrode 26 may becoupled to the conductive wire 51. One conductive wire 51 may be coupledto the second electrode 26 at a plurality of parts, or a plurality ofconductive wires 51 may be coupled to one second electrode 26.

The first electrodes 25 can be coupled to the second electrode 26 viathe second switching elements Trx. Among the first electrodes 25, thefirst electrodes 25 that are not selected as the first electrode block25A as the object to be detected turn the first switching elements Troff and turn the second switching elements Trx on. Consequently, theguard signal Vsgl is supplied to the first electrodes 25 around a firstelectrode block 25A(n) via the second electrode 26. Consequently, theelectrodes around the first electrode block 25A(n) selected as theobject to be detected are also oscillated at the same potential as thatof the first electrode block 25A(n). With this operation, parasiticcapacitance between the respective first electrodes 25 of the firstelectrode block 25A(n) and the first electrodes 25 therearound isreduced. Consequently, degradation in the detection sensitivity of thefingerprint sensor 20 can be lessened.

The gate lines GCL, the signal lines SGL, and the conductive wire 51 areformed of at least one metallic material of aluminum (Al), copper (Cu),silver (Ag), molybdenum (Mo), or an alloy of these metals. Theconductive wire 51 may be a laminate of a plurality of layers using oneor more of these metallic materials. To reduce reflectance, blackeningtreatment is preferably performed on the outermost surface of the gatelines GCL, the signal lines SGL, and the conductive wire 51.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the conductive wire 51 is provided overlappingwith the signal lines SGL and is provided along the signal lines SGL.Consequently, the visibility of the signal lines SGL can be lessened.The conductive wire 51, the signal lines SGL, and the gate lines GCL areprovided in a manner inclined relative to the long side of thetransmissive area Ad. In other words, the conductive wire 51, the signallines SGL, and the gate lines GCL are inclined relative to thearrangement direction of the pixels Pix of the display panel 30, wherebythe occurrence of moire can be lessened.

The following describes an example of the detection operation of thefingerprint sensor 20. FIG. 10 is a timing waveform diagram of thefingerprint sensor according to the first embodiment. As illustrated inFIG. 10, detection periods Pt1, Pt2, and Pt3, . . . are arranged in atime division manner. In the detection period Pt1, an n-th gate lineGCL(n) is selected, and the scan signal Vscan is turned on (high level).The first switching elements Tr coupled to the n-th gate line GCL(n) aresupplied with the scan signal Vscan to be turned on. With thisoperation, the drive signal Vf is supplied to the respective firstelectrodes 25 of the first electrode block 25A(n) corresponding to thegate line GCL(n) via the signal line SGL(m).

In the detection period Pt1, the guard signal Vsgl is supplied to thesecond electrode 26. In gate lines GCL(n+1) and GCL(n+2) that are notselected, the scan signal Vscan is off (low level). Consequently, thesecond switching elements Trx coupled to the gate lines GCL(n+1) andGCL(n+2) are turned on. The guard signal Vsgl is supplied to firstelectrode blocks 25A(n+1) and 25A(n+2) that are not selected, via thesecond electrode 26. With this operation, parasitic capacitance betweenthe first electrodes 25 and the second electrode 26 and parasiticcapacitance between the first electrode block 25A(n) and the firstelectrodes 25 around the first electrode block 25A(n) are reduced.Consequently, degradation in the detection sensitivity of thefingerprint sensor 20 can be lessened.

Next, in the detection period Pt2, an (n+1)th gate line GCL(n+1) isselected, and the scan signal Vscan is turned on (high level). The firstswitching elements Tr coupled to the (n+1)th gate line GCL(n+1) aresupplied with the scan signal Vscan to be turned on. With thisoperation, the drive signal Vf is supplied to each of the firstelectrodes 25 of the first electrode block 25A(n+1) corresponding to thegate line GCL(n+1) via the signal line SGL(m+1). In the detection periodPt2, the guard signal Vsgl is supplied to the second electrode 26 andthe first electrode blocks 25A(n) and 25A(n+2) that are not selected.

In the detection period Pt3, an (n+2)th gate line GCL(n+2) is selected,and the scan signal Vscan is turned on (high level). The first switchingelements Tr coupled to the (n+2)th gate line GCL(n+2) are supplied withthe scan signal Vscan to be turned on. With this operation, the drivesignal Vf is supplied to each of the first electrodes 25 of the firstelectrode block 25A(n+2) corresponding to the gate line GCL(n+2) via thesignal line SGL(m+2). In the detection period Pt3, the guard signal Vsglis supplied to the second electrode 26 and the first electrode blocks25A(n) and 25A(n+1) that are not selected.

This operation is repeated, whereby the detection signal Vdet is outputfrom the first electrode 25 at a position with which or to which thefinger has come into contact or close in the fingerprint detection areaFd to the detector 40 (refer to FIG. 1) based on theself-capacitance-type detection principle. The detection operation ofthe fingerprint is thus performed by the fingerprint sensor 20.

The following describes a configuration of the first electrodes 25, thesecond electrode 26, the first switching elements Tr, and the secondswitching elements Trx. FIG. 11 is a plan view for illustrating aconfiguration of the first electrodes and the switching elements. FIG.12 is a sectional view along the line XII-XII′ in FIG. 11.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, the sides of the adjacent first electrodes 25face spaced apart from each other, and the gate line GCL and the signalline SGL are provided crossing each other in between the firstelectrodes 25 in a plan view. The first electrode 25 is coupled to adrain electrode 63 of the first switching element Tr through a contacthole H4 near an intersection of the gate line GCL and the signal lineSGL. Although FIG. 11 omits the second electrode 26 for easy viewing ofthe drawing, the second electrode 26 is arranged overlapping with thefirst electrodes 25, the gate lines GCL, and the signal lines SGL asdescribed above.

As illustrated in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the first switching element Trincludes a semiconductor layer 61, a source electrode 62, the drainelectrode 63, and a gate electrode 64. The second switching element Trxincludes a semiconductor layer 65, a source electrode 66, a drainelectrode 67, and a gate electrode 68. In this example, the drainelectrode 67 of the second switching element Trx is an electrode commonto the drain electrode 63 of the first switching element Tr.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the first switching element Tr and the secondswitching element Trx are provided on the first alkali-free glass layer104 of the first cover base 101. On the first alkali-free glass layer104, the gate electrode 64 and the gate electrode 68 (the gate line GCL)are provided. On the upper side of the gate electrode 64 and the gateelectrode 68 (the gate line GCL), the semiconductor layer 61 and thesemiconductor layer 65 are provided with an insulating layer 58 ainterposed therebetween. On the upper side of the semiconductor layer 61and the semiconductor layer 65, the drain electrode 63, the drainelectrode 67, the source electrode 62 (the signal line SGL), and thesource electrode 66 are provided with an insulating layer 58 binterposed therebetween. On the upper side of the drain electrode 63,the drain electrode 67, the source electrode 62 (the signal line SGL),and the source electrode 66, the conductive wire 51 is provided with aflattening layer 59 interposed therebetween. On the upper side of theconductive wire 51, the second electrode 26 is provided with aninsulating layer 58 c interposed therebetween. As described above, theinsulating layer 56 is provided on the upper side of the secondelectrode 26, and the first electrodes 25 are provided on the insulatinglayer 56. The insulating layer 57 is provided on the first electrodes25, and the second face 102 b of the second cover base 102 is laminatedon the insulating layer 57 with the adhesive layer 71 interposedtherebetween.

In the present embodiment, an inorganic insulating material such assilicon oxide (SiO₂) or silicon nitride (SiN) is used for the insulatinglayers 56, 57, 58 a, 58 b, and 58 c. An organic resin material such as apolyimide resin is used for the flattening layer 59.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the second switching element Trx is providedon the same layer as the first switching element Tr; this is notlimiting, and the second switching element Trx may be provided on alayer different from the first switching element Tr.

As illustrated in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, in the first switching elementTr, the semiconductor layer 61 is coupled to the drain electrode 63through a contact hole H3. The semiconductor layer 61 crosses the gateline GCL in a plan view. A part of the gate line GCL overlapping withthe semiconductor layer 61 functions as the gate electrode 64. Thesemiconductor layer 61 is provided along the signal line SGL and bendsat a position overlapping with the signal line SGL. The semiconductorlayer 61 is electrically coupled to the signal line SGL through acontact hole H2. A part of the signal line SGL overlapping with thesemiconductor layer 61 functions as the source electrode 62. The signalline SGL and the first switching element Tr, and the gate line GCL andthe first switching element Tr are thus electrically coupled to eachother. Although the semiconductor layer 61 crosses the gate line GCL atone part in FIG. 11, the semiconductor layer 61 may bend so as to crossthe gate line GCL twice.

In the second switching element Trx, the semiconductor layer 65 iscoupled to the drain electrode 67 through a contact hole H9. The drainelectrode 67 is coupled to the first electrode 25 through the contacthole H4. The semiconductor layer 65 is provided in a direction parallelto the signal line SGL and crosses the gate line GCL in a plan view. Apart of the gate line GCL overlapping with the semiconductor layer 65functions as the gate electrode 68. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the gateelectrode 68 of the second switching element Trx is provided in a mannerbranched from the gate line GCL and is electrically coupled to the gateelectrode 64 of the first switching element Tr. In other words, thefirst switching element Tr and the second switching element Trx sharethe gate line GCL. The semiconductor layer 65 is coupled to the sourceelectrode 66 through a contact hole H10, and the source electrode 66 iscoupled to the second electrode 26 through a contact hole H11. The firstelectrode 25 and the second switching element Trx, and the secondelectrode 26 and the second switching element Trx are thus electricallycoupled to each other.

A known material such as polysilicon or an oxide semiconductor can beused for the material of the semiconductor layers 61 and 65. Atransparent amorphous oxide semiconductor (TAOS) can be used, forexample.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, a tab 51 a is coupled to the conductive wire51. The tab 51 a is provided near the intersection of the signal lineSGL and the gate line GCL and protrudes in a direction crossing theconductive wire 51. The tab 51 a is provided at a position that is notoverlapped with the signal line SGL and is electrically coupled to thesecond electrode 26 (omitted in FIG. 11) through the contact hole H1.The second electrode 26 and the conductive wire 51 are thus electricallycoupled to each other.

With this configuration, the first electrodes 25 are arranged closer tothe first face 102 a as the detection face of the cover member 10 thanthe first switching element Tr, the second switching element Trx, thesecond electrode 26, and the wires. Consequently, the distance betweenthe finger as the object to be detected and the first electrodes 25 isshort, thereby achieving favorable detection sensitivity. The secondelectrode 26 is provided in between the first electrodes 25 and thefirst switching element Tr, the second switching element Trx, and thewires. Consequently, the capacitance change of the first electrodes 25caused by the voltage fluctuations of the wires can be lessened.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the gate electrode 64 (the gate line GCL) ofthe first switching element Tr and the gate electrode 68 (the gate lineGCL) of the second switching element Trx are provided directly on thefirst alkali-free glass layer 104. In other words, the first alkali-freeglass layer 104 is provided in between the alkali glass layer 103 andthe first switching element Tr and in between the alkali glass layer 103and the second switching element Trx. With this configuration, the entryof alkali components into the first switching element Tr and the secondswitching element Trx can be lessened. Consequently, corrosion of thevarious wires such as the signal lines SGL and the gate lines GCL anddeterioration of characteristics of the semiconductor layers 61 and 65can be lessened.

As described above, the cover member 10 of the present embodiment hasthe first cover base 101 including the alkali glass layer 103, the firstalkali-free glass layer 104 provided on the first face 103 a of thealkali glass layer 103, and the second alkali-free glass layer 105provided on the second face 103 b of the alkali glass layer 103. Thecover member 10 also has the fingerprint sensor 20 that includes thefirst electrodes 25 configured to detect the unevenness of an objectthat comes into contact with or close to the first cover base 101 andthe first switching elements Tr. The fingerprint sensor 20 is providedon the first alkali-free glass layer 104 in the transmissive area Adthat passes an image.

With this configuration, the fingerprint sensor 20 is provided closer tothe cover member 10 than the display panel 30. With this configuration,compared with a case in which detection electrodes for fingerprintdetection are provided integrally with the display panel 30, forexample, the distance between the first electrodes 25 as the detectionelectrodes and the first face 102 a of the second cover base 102 as thedetection face can be reduced. Further, the fingerprint sensor 20 isprovided on the first cover base 101. With this configuration, thesecond cover base 102 arranged in between the fingerprint sensor 20 andthe finger can be made thinner to reduce the distance between the firstelectrodes 25 and the first face 102 a as the detection face.Consequently, the cover member 10 of the present embodiment can improvedetection performance.

The fingerprint sensor 20 detects the unevenness of a finger or the likethat comes into contact therewith or close thereto based on theself-capacitance-type detection principle. Consequently, compared with amutual capacitance type, the intensity of an electric field in adirection perpendicular to the first face 102 a of the cover member 10when the drive signal Vf is supplied to the first electrodes 25 can beincreased. Consequently, the cover member 10 of the present embodimentcan reduce the area of the first electrodes 25 of the fingerprint sensor20 to increase the resolution of detection and can obtain favorabledetection sensitivity.

Further, the guard signal Vsgl is supplied to the second electrode 26facing the first electrodes 25. With this operation, the capacitancechange of the first electrodes 25 on the first cover base 101 side canbe lessened. Consequently, the cover member 10 of the present embodimentcan lessen degradation in the detection sensitivity of the fingerprintsensor 20.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a cover member according to a firstmodification of the first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 13, in thepresent modification, the gate electrode 64 (the gate line GCL) of thefirst switching element Tr and the gate electrode 68 (the gate line GCL)of the second switching element Trx are provided on the firstalkali-free glass layer 104 with a passivation film 55 interposedtherebetween. Even with this configuration, the entry of alkalicomponents into the first switching element Tr and the second switchingelement Trx can be lessened. An inorganic insulating material such assilicon nitride (Si₃N₄) is used for the passivation film 55.

If the passivation film 55 is provided on the alkali glass layer 103without providing the first alkali-free glass layer 104, alkalicomponents may pass through the passivation film 55 to reach the firstswitching element Tr and the second switching element Trx. By providingthe passivation film 55 on the first alkali-free glass layer 104,degradation in the characteristics of the first switching element Tr andthe second switching element Trx can be surely lessened.

FIG. 14 is a schematic plan view of a fingerprint sensor of a covermember according to a second modification of the first embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 14, in this cover member 10A of the presentmodification, a fingerprint sensor 20A is arranged at the central partof the short side of the transmissive area Ad. The fingerprint sensor20A is not provided at both ends of the short side of the transmissivearea Ad, in other words, the corners of the transmissive area Ad. Theadhesive layer 71 (refer to FIG. 2) that laminates the first cover base101 and the second cover base 102 together is provided at areas adjacentto the fingerprint sensor 20A in a direction along the short side of thetransmissive area Ad.

In the present modification, the fingerprint detection area Fd is anarea overlapping with the transmissive area Ad and a rectangular areaprotruding from the central part of the short side of the transmissivearea Ad toward a central part in an in-plane direction. The firstelectrodes 25, the second electrode 26, the gate lines GCL, the signallines SGL, and the like of the fingerprint sensor 20A are provided inthe fingerprint detection area Fd.

A configuration of the first electrodes 25, the second electrode 26, thegate lines GCL, the signal lines SGL, and the like is similar to that ofthe first embodiment, in which the drive signal Vf is supplied to thefirst electrodes 25, and the detection signal Vdet responsive to thecapacitance change of the first electrodes 25 is output. The detector 40(refer to FIG. 5) can detect the unevenness of the surface of the objectto be detected such as a fingerprint of a finger that comes into contactwith or close to the fingerprint detection area Fd by the detectionsignal Vdet output from the first electrodes 25.

In the present embodiment, the first electrodes 25 of the fingerprintsensor 20A are provided only at the central part of the short side ofthe transmissive area Ad. Consequently, the circuitry 15 including thegate driver 12 and the first electrode driver 14 is provided only at thecentral part of the short side of the frame area Gd. The gate lines GCLand the signal lines SGL are routed to the short side of the frame areaGd and are coupled to the circuitry 15. The drive circuits such as thegate driver 12 and the first electrode driver 14 and the firstelectrodes 25 are provided on the first cover base 101, and thus theresponsivity of detection operation improves, and detection performancecan be improved. The area of the fingerprint detection area Fd issmaller than that of the first embodiment. Consequently, the timerequired for detection can be reduced, and the load of arithmeticprocessing on the detector 40 can be reduced.

The fingerprint sensor 20A is a fingerprint detector having translucencyand is provided in between the first cover base 101 and the second coverbase 102 (refer to FIG. 2), whereby there are few constraints by themembers such as the polarizing plate 35 of the display panel 30, thearrangement of the electrodes, and the like, and the degree of freedomof the size and arrangement of the fingerprint sensor 20A can beincreased. Consequently, as illustrated in FIG. 14, even when thefingerprint detection area Fd is reduced in size to be provided only inpart of the transmissive area Ad, the fingerprint sensor 20A can beeasily arranged in accordance with the fingerprint detection area Fd.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, a fingerprint detection area FdA that is afurther smaller range than the fingerprint detection area Fd can be adetection area for detecting a fingerprint. In this case, the firstelectrodes 25, the gate lines GCL, and the signal lines SGL are providedin the fingerprint detection area FdA. In an area outside thefingerprint detection area FdA, no first electrode 25 can be provided,or dummy electrodes that do not function as detection electrodes can beprovided. The gate lines GCL and the signal lines SGL provided in thefingerprint detection area FdA are routed to the area outside thefingerprint detection area FdA, and thus dummy wires are preferablyprovided in the area outside the fingerprint detection area FdA. Thesame material as those of the gate lines GCL and the signal lines SGL isused for the dummy wires, which are arranged at the same pitch as thatof the gate lines GCL and the signal lines SGL. With this configuration,the wires are arranged around the fingerprint detection area FdA, and adifference in light transmittance between the part in which the gatelines GCL and the signal lines SGL are provided and the part in whichthe dummy wires are provided is reduced. With this configuration,visibility can be improved.

FIG. 15 is a schematic plan view of a fingerprint sensor of a covermember according to a third modification of the first embodiment. Inthis cover member 10B of the present modification, similarly to theexample illustrated in FIG. 14, the fingerprint detection area Fd is anarea overlapping with the transmissive area Ad and a rectangular areaprotruding from the central part of the short side of the transmissivearea Ad toward the central part in the in-plane direction. A fingerprintsensor 20B is provided outside the fingerprint detection area Fd andalso near the long sides of the frame area Gd in a direction along theshort side of the transmissive area Ad.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the first electrodes 25 are provided in thefingerprint detection area Fd of the first cover base 101, whereas dummyareas Dd1 and Dd2 are provided adjacent to the fingerprint detectionarea Fd in the direction along the short side of the transmissive areaAd. In the dummy areas Dd1 and Dd2, dummy wires DL1 and dummy wires DL2are provided on the first cover base 101. The dummy wires DL1 areprovided along the gate lines GCL, whereas the dummy wires DL2 areprovided along the signal lines SGL. The same materials as those of thegate lines GCL and the signal lines SGL are used for the dummy wires DL1and DL2, respectively, which are arranged with the same pitch as thearrangement pitch of the gate lines GCL and the signal lines SGL.

The dummy wires DL1 and DL2 in the dummy area Dd1 are electricallyseparated from the gate lines GCL and the signal lines SGL in thefingerprint detection area Fd by a slit SL1. The dummy wires DL1 and DL2in the dummy area Dd2 are electrically separated from the gate lines GCLand the signal lines SGL in the fingerprint detection area Fd by a slitSL2. The dummy wires DL1 and DL2 are wires that are not coupled to thegate driver 12 and the first electrode driver 14 of the circuitry 15 andare not used for detection operation.

With this configuration, even when the fingerprint detection area Fd isprovided only in part of the transmissive area Ad, a difference in lighttransmittance between the fingerprint detection area Fd and the dummyareas Dd1 and Dd2 can be reduced, and thus the visibility of a displayimage can be improved.

Although the dummy areas Dd1 and Dd2 are provided in part of thetransmissive area Ad in FIG. 15, this is not limiting; the dummy areasDd1 and Dd2 may be provided in the entire area that is not overlappedwith the fingerprint detection area Fd in the transmissive area Ad.Although not illustrated in FIG. 15, dummy electrodes that do notfunction as detection electrodes may be provided in the dummy areas Dd1and Dd2, and these dummy electrodes may have the same shape andarrangement as those of the first electrodes 25. Further, on the samelayer as the second electrode 26, the dummy electrodes may be providedcontinuously in the entire dummy area Dd1, or the dummy electrodes maybe provided continuously in the entire dummy area Dd2.

FIG. 16 is a schematic plan view of a fingerprint sensor of a covermember according to a fourth modification of the first embodiment. FIG.17 is a sectional view along the line XVII-XVII′ in FIG. 16. Asillustrated in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17, in this cover member 10C of thepresent embodiment, a fingerprint sensor 20C is provided in the entiretransmissive area Ad. In other words, the entire transmissive area Ad isthe fingerprint detection area Fd.

As illustrated in FIG. 16, the first electrodes 25 are arranged in theentire transmissive area Ad of the first cover base 101, and the secondelectrode 26 is provided in the entire transmissive area Ad facing thefirst electrodes 25. The circuitry 15A including the gate driver 12 andthe first electrode driver 14 is provided on the short side of the framearea Gd, whereas the circuitries 15B and 15C are provided along the longsides of the frame area Gd. The gate lines GCL and the signal lines SGLare arranged in the entire transmissive area Ad. On the short side ofthe frame area Gd, the gate lines GCL and the signal lines SGL arecoupled to the circuitry 15A. On the long sides of the frame area Gd,the gate lines GCL and the signal lines SGL are coupled to thecircuitries 15B and 15C.

With this configuration, based on the basic principle of theself-capacitance type, in the entire transmissive area Ad, theunevenness of a finger or the like that comes into contact with or closeto the fingerprint sensor 20C can be detected from the detection signalVdet responsive to the capacitance change of the first electrodes 25.The position of an external object such as a finger that comes intocontact with or close to the fingerprint sensor 20C can also be detectedby the first electrodes 25. Consequently, the position of the finger orthe like that comes close to or into contact with the fingerprint sensor20C may be detected by the first electrodes 25, and fingerprintdetection operation may be performed with a fine pitch at the detectedposition.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, in a display apparatus 1C, the fingerprintsensor 20C is provided facing almost the entire polarizing plate 35 ofthe display panel 30 with the adhesive layer 72 and the first cover base101 interposed therebetween. The fingerprint sensor 20C is thus providedfacing the entire transmissive area Ad. Consequently, a difference inlight transmittance in the entire transmissive area Ad is lessened, andthe visibility of the display image of the display panel 30 can beimproved.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of adisplay apparatus according to a fifth modification of the firstembodiment. In this display apparatus 1D of the present modification,the external shape of the second cover base 102 of a cover member 10Dwhen viewed in the direction perpendicular to the first face 102 a issmaller than the external shape of the first cover base 101. Asdescribed above, the second cover base 102 is formed to be as thin asabout 0.2 mm, for example, in order to improve the detection performanceof a fingerprint sensor 20D. Consequently, when an impact is applied tothe second cover base 102, it may break.

By making the external shape of the second cover base 102 smaller thanthat of the first cover base 101, the end of the second cover base 102is arranged at a position overlapping with the first cover base 101, andthe entire second face 102 b of the second cover base 102 adheres to theadhesive layer 71 to be supported. Consequently, a part of the secondcover base 102 that is not supported by the adhesive layer 71 and thefirst cover base 101 is reduced in size, and the likelihood of breakageof the second cover base 102 can be lessened. In the presentmodification, the second cover base 102 is preferably provided so as tocover at least the entire transmissive area Ad in order to lessendegradation in the display image of the display panel 30.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a configuration example of a displayapparatus according to a second embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 19,this display apparatus 1E includes a detection function-equipped displaydevice 200, the fingerprint sensor 20, a detection controller 11A, adisplay controller 11B, the gate driver 12, a gate driver 12A fordisplay, a source driver 13, the first electrode driver 14, a driveelectrode driver 14A, the detector 40, and a touch detector 40A. Thedisplay apparatus 1E is a display apparatus in which the detectionfunction-equipped display device 200 incorporates a detection function.

The detection function-equipped display device 200 is an apparatus thatintegrates the display panel 30 and a touch sensor 50 as a detectionapparatus configured to detect touch input. The apparatus thatintegrates the display panel 30 and the touch sensor 50 indicates thatpart of substrates or electrodes used for the display panel 30 or thetouch sensor 50 is used for both of them, for example. The display panel30 may be an organic EL display panel, for example.

The display controller 11B is a circuit that supplies a control signalto the gate driver 12A for display or the source driver 13 based on avideo signal supplied from the outside to control mainly displayoperation. The display controller 11B supplies a control signal furtherto the detection controller 11A to enable control to cause the gatedriver 12A for display, the source driver 13, and the detectioncontroller 11A to operate in sync with each other or out of sync witheach other.

The gate driver 12A for display has a function of outputting a scansignal Vscand for display based on the control signal supplied from thedisplay controller 11B and successively selecting one horizontal line asan object of the display drive of the detection function-equippeddisplay device 200.

The source driver 13 is a circuit that supplies a pixel signal Vpix tothe respective pixels Pix of the detection function-equipped displaydevice 200 based on the control signal supplied from the displaycontroller 11B. The display controller 11B may generate the pixel signalVpix and supply this pixel signal Vpix to the source driver 13.

The touch sensor 50 performs touch detection operation based on thebasic principle of capacitance-type touch detection to detect theposition of an external object that comes into contact therewith orclose thereto. Upon detection of the contact or closeness of theexternal object, the touch sensor 50 outputs a detection signal VdetA tothe touch detector 40A.

The detection controller 11A is a circuit that controls detectionoperation in the touch sensor 50 configured to detect an external objectthat comes into contact therewith or close thereto and controls thedetection operation of the fingerprint sensor 20. The drive electrodedriver 14A is a circuit that supplies a drive signal Vs for detection ora drive signal Vcom for display to drive electrodes 33A of the detectionfunction-equipped display device 200 based on the control signalsupplied from the detection controller 11A. The gate driver 12 suppliesthe scan signal Vscan to the fingerprint sensor 20 as described abovebased on the control signal supplied from the detection controller 11A.The first electrode driver 14 supplies the drive signal Vf to thefingerprint sensor 20 based on the control signal supplied from thedetection controller 11A.

The touch detector 40A is a circuit configured to detect the presence orabsence of a touch on the touch sensor 50 based on the control signalsupplied from the detection controller 11A and the detection signalVdetA output from third electrodes TDL (refer to FIG. 35). The touchdetector 40A determines coordinates at which touch input has beenperformed and the like when a touch is present. The touch detector 40Aincludes for example, a detection signal amplifier, an A/D converter, asignal processor, a coordinates extractor, and a detection timingcontroller similarly to the detector 40 described above.

The touch sensor 50 operates based on the basic principle ofcapacitance-type touch detection. The following describes the basicprinciple of touch detection by the mutual capacitance type of thedisplay apparatus 1E of the present embodiment with reference to FIG. 20to FIG. 22. FIG. 20 is an illustrative diagram for illustrating thebasic principle of touch detection of the mutual capacitance type. FIG.21 is an illustrative diagram of an example of an equivalent circuit forillustrating the basic principle of touch detection of the mutualcapacitance type. FIG. 22 is a diagram of examples of waveforms of adrive signal and a detection signal of touch detection of the mutualcapacitance type. Although the following describes a case in which afinger comes into contact with or close to the touch sensor 50, thefinger, which is not limiting, may be an object containing a conductorsuch as a stylus.

As illustrated in FIG. 20, for example, a capacitance element C4includes a pair of electrodes, or a drive electrode E2 and a detectionelectrode E3 that are arranged facing each other across a dielectricbody D. The capacitance element C4 causes fringe-originated electriclines of force extending from the end of the drive electrode E2 towardthe upper face of the detection electrode E3 in addition to electriclines of force (not illustrated) generated between the opposite faces,or the drive electrode E2 and the detection electrode E3. As illustratedin FIG. 21, one end of the capacitance element C4 is coupled to an ACsignal source (drive signal source) S, whereas the other end thereof iscoupled to the voltage detector DET. The voltage detector DET is anintegrating circuit included in the touch detector 40A illustrated inFIG. 19, for example.

When an AC rectangular wave Sg with a certain frequency (about a fewkilohertz to a few hundred kilohertz, for example) is applied from theAC signal source S to the drive electrode E2 (one end of the capacitanceelement C4), an output waveform (the detection signal VdetA) asillustrated in FIG. 22 appears via the voltage detector DET coupled tothe detection electrode E3 (the other end of the capacitance element C4)side. This AC rectangular wave Sg corresponds to the drive signal Vsinput from the drive electrode driver 14A.

In a state (a non-contact state) in which the finger does not come intocontact therewith nor close thereto, along with charge to and dischargefrom the capacitance element C4, a current responsive to the capacitancevalue of the capacitance element C4 passes. The voltage detector DETillustrated in FIG. 21 converts fluctuations in the current responsiveto the AC rectangular wave Sg into fluctuations in voltage (a solid linewaveform V₆ (refer to FIG. 22)).

In contrast, in a state (a contact state) in which the finger comes intocontact therewith or close thereto, a capacitance C5 generated by thefinger is in contact with or close to the detection electrode E3 asillustrated in FIG. 20. With this configuration, the fringe-originatedelectric lines of force present in between the drive electrode E2 andthe detection electrode E3 are shielded by a conductor (the finger).Consequently, the capacitance C4 operates as a capacitance elementhaving a smaller capacitance value than a capacitance value in thenon-contact state. As illustrated in FIG. 21 and FIG. 22, the voltagedetector DET converts fluctuations in a current I₁ responsive to the ACrectangular wave Sg into fluctuations in voltage (a dotted line waveformV₇).

In this case, the waveform V₇ is smaller in amplitude than the waveformV₆. With this relation, the absolute value |ΔV| of the voltagedifference between the waveform V₆ and the waveform V₇ changes inaccordance with the influence of an external object such as the fingerthat externally comes into contact therewith or close thereto. To detectthe absolute value |ΔV| of the voltage difference between the waveformV₆ and the waveform V₇ with high precision, the voltage detector DETmore preferably operates with a period Reset that resets the charge anddischarge of a capacitor in accordance with the frequency of the ACrectangular wave Sg by intra-circuit switching.

The touch detector 40A compares the absolute value |ΔV| with a certainthreshold voltage and determines that the external close object is inthe non-contact state if this absolute value |ΔV| is less than thethreshold voltage. In contrast, if the absolute value |ΔV| is thethreshold voltage or more, the touch detector 40A determines that theexternal close object is in the contact state. The touch detector 40Athus enables touch detection.

The following describes a configuration example of the display apparatus1E of the present embodiment. FIG. 23 is a sectional view of a schematicsectional structure of the display apparatus according to the secondembodiment. FIG. 24 is a schematic plan view for illustrating therelation between drive electrodes and third electrodes according to thepresent embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 23, the display apparatus 1E of the presentembodiment includes the cover member 10 and the display panel 30. Thecover member 10 of the present embodiment can be any of the covermembers 10 and 10A to 10D illustrated in the first embodiment and themodifications. The fingerprint sensor 20 included in the cover member 10of the present embodiment can also be any of the fingerprint sensors 20and 20A to 20D illustrated in the first embodiment and themodifications.

As illustrated in FIG. 23, third electrodes TDL are provided on thecounter substrate 30B of the display panel 30, and the polarizing plate35 is provided on the upper side of the third electrodes TDL. The thirdelectrodes TDL function as the detection electrodes of the touch sensor50. The fingerprint sensor 20 is arranged overlapping with thefingerprint detection area Fd provided in part of the transmissive areaAd when viewed in the direction perpendicular to the first face 102 a ofthe second cover base 102. As illustrated in FIG. 23, the fingerprintsensor 20 is arranged overlapping with part of the third electrodes TDL.

As illustrated in FIG. 24, the detection function-equipped displaydevice 200 includes the drive electrodes 33A provided to the firstsubstrate 31 and the third electrodes TDL provided to the secondsubstrate 36. The drive electrode 33A is provided in a second directionDy and a plurality of the drive electrodes 33A are arranged in a firstdirection Dx in the transmissive area Ad. The drive electrodes 33A aresupplied with the drive signal Vcom for display from the drive electrodedriver 14A in display operation and function as common electrodes forthe pixel electrodes 32 (refer to FIG. 4).

The third electrode TDL is provided in the first direction Dx and aplurality of the third electrodes TDL are arranged in the seconddirection Dy in the transmissive area Ad. In other words, the thirdelectrodes TDL cross the drive electrodes 33A in a plan view. The thirdelectrodes TDL are coupled to a flexible board 75A provided on the shortside of the frame area Gd of the second substrate 36 via frame wiring(omitted in FIG. 24). In the present embodiment, a conductive materialhaving translucency such as ITO is used for the third electrodes TDL. Asillustrated in FIG. 24, the drive electrodes 33A are providedoverlapping with the fingerprint detection area Fd provided in part ofthe transmissive area Ad. The third electrodes TDL provided at positionsoverlapping with the fingerprint detection area Fd are dummy electrodesTDLd that do not substantially function as the detection electrodes.

Capacitances are generated at respective intersections of the thirdelectrodes TDL and the drive electrodes 33A. In the touch sensor 50,when the touch detection operation of the mutual capacitance type isperformed, the drive electrode driver 14A successively selects the driveelectrodes 33A in a time division manner and supplies the drive signalVs to the selected drive electrode 33A. The detection signal VdetA isthen output from the third electrodes TDL to perform touch detection. Inother words, the drive electrodes 33A correspond to the drive electrodeE2 in the basic principle of touch detection of the mutual capacitancetype, whereas the third electrodes TDL correspond to the detectionelectrode E3. The drive electrode driver 14A may successively selecteach drive electrode block including a plurality of drive electrodes 33Aand drive the drive electrode block.

Thus, in the present embodiment, the drive electrodes 33A function asthe common electrodes for the pixel electrodes 32 in display operationand function as the drive electrodes for the third electrodes TDL indetection operation.

In FIG. 24, various circuits such as the gate driver 12A for display,the drive electrode driver 14A, and a multiplexer 13A are provided inthe frame area Gd of the first substrate 31; this is not limiting. Partof the functions of the gate driver 12A for display and the driveelectrode driver 14A may be included in the IC 19 for display.

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram for illustrating touch detectionoperation according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG.25, part of the third electrodes TDL overlaps with the fingerprintsensor 20 and is arranged at a position more separate from the secondcover base 102 than the fingerprint sensor 20 in the directionperpendicular to the first face 102 a as the detection face.

At the time of the touch detection operation, the drive signal Vs issupplied to the drive electrodes 33A, whereby a fringe electric field isgenerated in between the third electrodes TDL and the drive electrodes33A. Electric lines of force Em of the fringe electric field reach abovethe first face 102 a of the second cover base 102 in an area that doesnot overlap with the fingerprint detection area Fd in the transmissivearea Ad. With this phenomenon, based on the basic principle of touchdetection of the mutual capacitance type, the position of an externalobject such as a finger that comes into contact with or close to thefirst face 102 a of the second cover base 102 can be detected.

In the fingerprint detection area Fd, the electric lines of force Em ofthe fringe electric field are shielded by the first electrodes 25 andthe second electrode 26 (not illustrated) of the fingerprint sensor 20and may not reach above the first face 102 a of the second cover base102. Consequently, the touch sensor 50 may reduce in the detectionsensitivity of touch detection or may not perform touch detection in thefingerprint detection area Fd.

In the present embodiment, the first electrodes 25 of the fingerprintsensor 20 are used as the detection electrodes in the touch detectionoperation. In other words, the drive signal Vf is supplied to the firstelectrodes 25, whereby electric lines of force Es of an electric fieldextending upward from the first electrodes 25 are generated. Theelectric lines of force Es reach above the first face 102 a of thesecond cover base 102 in the fingerprint detection area Fd. With thisphenomenon, based on the basic principle of touch detection of theself-capacitance type, the position of an external object such as afinger that comes into contact with or close to the fingerprintdetection area Fd can be detected.

The detection controller 11A (refer to FIG. 19) performs the touchdetection operation by the mutual capacitance type of the touch sensor50 in the area that does not overlap with the fingerprint detection areaFd in the transmissive area Ad and performs the touch detectionoperation of the fingerprint sensor 20 in the fingerprint detection areaFd. The touch detector 40A (refer to FIG. 19) performs touch detectionin the area that does not overlap with the fingerprint detection area Fdin the transmissive area Ad based on the detection signal VdetA outputfrom the third electrodes TDL. The touch detector 40A further performstouch detection in the fingerprint detection area Fd based on thedetection signal Vdet output from the first electrodes 25. With thisoperation, touch detection in the entire transmissive area Ad isenabled. The fingerprint sensor 20 can thus perform touch detection soas to complement the touch detection operation of the touch sensor 50.

In this process, the fingerprint sensor 20 may only detect a touchwithout detecting a fingerprint. Consequently, for the drive of thefingerprint sensor 20, not drive for the fingerprint detection, a methodof another drive, or a method for simultaneously driving a plurality ofthe first electrodes 25 can be employed, for example. As another methodof drive, a method for driving only the first electrodes 25 at someimportant positions, not all the first electrodes 25, can be employed.Thus, drive for the reduction of the detection processing of thefingerprint sensor 20 can be employed. The third electrodes TDL thatoverlap with the fingerprint detection area Fd among the thirdelectrodes TDL may be the dummy electrodes TDLd that do not function asthe detection electrodes.

The detection controller 11A may perform the touch detection operationof the touch sensor 50 and the touch detection operation of thefingerprint sensor 20 simultaneously or with different timing. Thedetection controller 11A may switch the touch detection operation of thefingerprint sensor 20 to the fingerprint detection operation to performfingerprint detection when the fingerprint sensor 20 detects the contactor closeness of a finger or the like in the fingerprint detection areaFd. In this case, the fingerprint sensor 20 can perform the fingerprintdetection operation by driving the first electrodes 25 at a positionoverlapping with the finger or the like that comes into contacttherewith or close thereto based on the positional information of thefinger or the like that comes into contact therewith or close theretodetected by the touch detection operation.

Many first electrodes 25 are arranged with a pitch corresponding to anarrangement pitch Pp of the pixels Pix. In the touch detectionoperation, the resolution of detection may be reduced in comparison withthe fingerprint detection. In this case, the fingerprint sensor 20 maycollectively drive the first electrodes 25 to perform the touchdetection operation for each detection electrode block. The gate driver12 selects the gate lines GCL simultaneously, whereas the firstelectrode driver 14 supplies the drive signal Vf to the first electrodes25 (the detection electrode block) corresponding to the selected gatelines GCL, for example. The detection signal Vdet responsive to thecapacitance change of the first electrodes 25 (the detection electrodeblock) is output to the touch detector 40A. Thus, by performing touchdetection for each detection electrode block, the time required fortouch detection can be reduced, and the load of arithmetic processing onthe touch detector 40A can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, the shape and the arrangement of the driveelectrodes 33A and the third electrodes TDL illustrated in FIG. 24 canbe modified as appropriate. The drive electrode 33A may be provided inthe first direction Dx and a plurality of the drive electrodes 33Aarranged in the second direction Dy, whereas the third electrode TDL maybe provided in the second direction Dy and a plurality of the thirdelectrodes TDL arranged in the first direction Dx, for example.

FIG. 26 is a schematic plan view of a detection function-equippeddisplay device according to a first modification of the secondembodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 26, a display apparatus 1F of thepresent modification is different in that the third electrodes TDL areprovided in the area that does not overlap with the fingerprintdetection area Fd in the transmissive area Ad and are not provided inthe fingerprint detection area Fd.

As described above, in the fingerprint detection area Fd, touchdetection can be performed by the fingerprint sensor 20. Consequently,there is no need to provide the third electrodes TDL at a positionoverlapping with the fingerprint sensor 20. Thus, when a finger or thelike comes into contact with or close to the fingerprint detection areaFd, the detection signal Vdet is output from the fingerprint sensor 20,whereas the detection signal VdetA is not output from the touch sensor50. Consequently, the load of arithmetic processing on the touchdetector 40A can be reduced.

The drive electrodes 33A function also as the common electrodes indisplay operation. For this purpose, the drive electrodes 33A areprovided in the entire transmissive area Ad including the fingerprintdetection area Fd as illustrated in FIG. 26.

Although FIG. 24 and FIG. 26 illustrate the configuration in which theband-shaped third electrodes TDL are arranged, this is not limiting.FIG. 27 is a schematic plan view of a detection function-equippeddisplay device according to a second modification of the secondembodiment. FIG. 27 illustrates only a plan view of the second substrate36 and omits the drive electrodes 33A provided to the first substrate31; also in the present modification, the drive electrodes 33A can besimilar to the examples illustrated in FIG. 24 and FIG. 26.

As illustrated in FIG. 27, third electrodes TDLA that function as thedetection electrodes of the touch sensor 50 and dummy electrodes TDLAdthat do not function as the detection electrodes are provided in thetransmissive area Ad of the second substrate 36. Detection electrodeareas Rt in which the third electrodes TDLA are provided and dummyelectrode areas Rd in which the dummy electrodes TDLAd are provided arealternately arranged in the second direction Dy.

Each of the third electrodes TDLA includes a plurality of metallic wires83. Each of the metallic wires 83 includes thin line pieces 83 a andthin line pieces 83 b that are alternately coupled to each other with acoupling part 83 x. The thin line pieces 83 a and the thin line pieces83 b are inclined in directions opposite to each other relative to thefirst direction Dx. Each of the metallic wires 83 is formed in a zigzagline or a wavy line and is provided in the first direction Dx on thewhole. A plurality of the metallic wires 83 are arranged with spacing inthe second direction Dy. The ends of the arranged metallic wires 83 arecoupled with a pad 84 to function as a single third electrode TDLA.

The third electrodes TDLA are band-shaped with the length in the firstdirection Dx on the whole and are arranged in the second direction Dy.The third electrodes TDLA are coupled to the flexible board 75A providedon the short side of the frame area Gd of the second substrate 36 viathe pad 84 and a frame wire 87.

Each of the dummy electrodes TDLAd includes thin line pieces 85 a andthin line pieces 85 b. The thin line piece 85 a is provided along thethin line piece 83 a of the metallic wire 83, whereas the thin linepiece 85 b is provided along the thin line piece 83 b of the metallicwire 83. The thin line pieces 85 a and the thin line pieces 85 b arealternately arranged in the first direction Dx spaced apart from eachother, and a plurality of the thin wire pieces 85 a and 85 b arearranged in the second direction Dy.

The dummy electrodes TDLAd are arranged in between the third electrodesTDLA arranged in the second direction Dy. The dummy electrodes TDLAd arearranged in a manner spaced apart from the third electrodes TDLA and arein a floating state, in which no voltage signal is supplied, and theirpotential is not fixed, at the time of touch detection.

Also in the present modification, capacitances are generated atintersections of the third electrodes TDLA and the drive electrodes 33A(refer to FIGS. 24 and 26), and touch detection is enabled based on thebasic principle of touch detection of the mutual capacitance type. Theelectric lines of force Em of the fringe electric field pass through thedummy electrode areas Rd to reach above the first face 102 a of thesecond cover base 102.

The metallic wires 83 included in the third electrodes TDLA are formedof at least one metallic material of aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), silver(Ag), molybdenum (Mo), or an alloy of these metals. The metallic wires83 may be a multilayer of a plurality of layers using one or more ofthese metallic materials. The metallic material of at least one ofaluminum (Al), copper (Cu), silver (Ag), molybdenum (Mo), or an alloy ofthese metals is lower in resistance than translucent conductive oxidessuch as ITO. Since these metallic materials have larger light shieldingeffect than translucent conductive oxides such as ITO, transmittance mayreduce, or the pattern of the third electrodes TDLA may be visuallyrecognized. In the present embodiment, a single third electrode TDLA hasa plurality of thin metallic wires 83, and the metallic wires 83 areformed in a zigzag line or a wavy line and are arranged with spacinglarger than their line width, whereby a reduction in resistance andhiding can be achieved. Consequently, the third electrodes TDLA reducein resistance, and a display apparatus 1G can be thinned and increasedin screen size or increased in precision.

The thin line pieces 85 a and the thin line pieces 85 b included in thedummy electrodes TDLAd are preferably formed of the same metallicmaterial as that of the metallic wires 83. With this, a difference inlight transmittance between the detection electrode areas Rt and thedummy electrode areas Rd is lessened, and the third electrodes TDLA andthe dummy electrodes TDLAd can be hidden. To reduce reflectance,blackening treatment is preferably performed on the outermost surface ofthe metallic wires 83, the thin line pieces 85 a, and the thin linepieces 85 b.

Also in the present modification, the fingerprint sensor 20 is providedoverlapping with the fingerprint detection area Fd. The touch sensor 50performs touch detection in accordance with a capacitance change betweenthe third electrodes TDLA and the drive electrodes 33A in the area thatdoes not overlap with the fingerprint detection area Fd in thetransmissive area Ad. The fingerprint sensor 20 performs touch detectionby the capacitance change of the first electrodes 25 in the fingerprintdetection area Fd. With this operation, touch detection in the entiretransmissive area Ad is enabled.

In the present modification, the third electrodes TDLA include themetallic wires 83, and the area that includes the third electrodes TDLAand the area that does not include the third electrodes TDLA differ inlight transmittance, whereby the third electrodes TDLA may be visuallyrecognized by a viewer. For this reason, the third electrodes TDLA arepreferably provided in the fingerprint detection area Fd. Alternatively,without providing the third electrodes TDLA in the fingerprint detectionarea Fd, the dummy electrodes TDLAd formed of the same metallic materialmay be provided in the fingerprint detection area Fd. With thisconfiguration, the third electrodes TDLA and the dummy electrodes TDLAdcan be hidden in the entire transmissive area Ad.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 28 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of adisplay apparatus according to a third embodiment. FIG. 29 is schematicplan view of a cover member according to the third embodiment. FIG. 30is a plan view illustrating the relation among first electrodes, thirdelectrodes, and various wires according to the third embodiment in anenlarged manner. FIG. 31 is a sectional view schematically illustratinga sectional structure of a fingerprint detection area, a dummy electrodearea, and a detection electrode area.

As illustrated in FIG. 28, in a display apparatus 1H of the presentembodiment, third electrodes TDLB are provided adjacent to thefingerprint sensor 20 on the first cover base 101 of a cover member 10H.In an area overlapping with the fingerprint detection area Fd in thetransmissive area Ad, the fingerprint sensor 20 is provided on the firstalkali-free glass layer 104 of the first cover base 101. In the areathat does not overlap with the fingerprint detection area Fd in thetransmissive area Ad, the third electrodes TDLB are provided on thefirst alkali-free glass layer 104 of the first cover base 101. In thepresent embodiment, no detection electrode is provided on the displaypanel 30.

The drive electrodes 33A are provided to the first substrate 31 of thedisplay panel 30, and capacitances are generated in between the thirdelectrodes TDLB of the cover member 10H and the drive electrodes 33A ofthe display panel 30. A signal responsive to a change in thecapacitances generated at intersections of the third electrodes TDLB andthe drive electrodes 33A is output from the third electrodes TDLB, andtouch detection is enabled based on the basic principle of touchdetection of the mutual capacitance type. In other words, the thirdelectrodes TDLB and the drive electrodes 33A function as the touchsensor 50 (refer to FIG. 19).

As illustrated in FIG. 29 and FIG. 30, in the area that does not overlapwith the fingerprint detection area Fd in the transmissive area Ad, thethird electrodes TDLB that function as the detection electrodes anddummy electrodes TDLBd that do not function as the detection electrodesare provided on the first cover base 101. Detection electrode areas Rtaincluding the third electrodes TDLB and dummy electrode areas Rdaincluding the dummy electrodes TDLBd are alternately arranged in thesecond direction Dy. FIG. 29 omits the dummy electrodes TDLBd for easyviewing.

As illustrated in FIG. 30, each of the third electrodes TDLB includes aplurality of metallic wires 86 a and 86 b. The metallic wire 86 a isprovided in a manner inclined in the same direction as that of thesignal lines SGL of the fingerprint sensor 20 and a plurality of themetallic wires 86 a are arranged with the same pitch as that of thesignal lines SGL. The metallic wire 86 b is provided in a mannerinclined in the same direction as that of the gale line GCL of thefingerprint sensor 20 and a plurality of the metallic wires 86 b arearranged with the same pitch as that of the gate lines GCL. The metallicwires 86 a and 86 b are provided on the same layer and are electricallycoupled to each other at intersections to function as a single thirdelectrode TDLB.

As illustrated in FIG. 29, the third electrode TDLB is band-shaped withthe length in the first direction Dx on the whole and a plurality of thethird electrodes TDLB are arranged in the second direction Dy. In otherwords, the third electrodes TDLB cross the drive electrodes 33Aillustrated in FIG. 24 and FIG. 26 in a plan view. The third electrodesTDLB are coupled to the flexible board 76 provided on the short side ofthe frame area Gd of the first cover base 101 via frame wiring (notillustrated).

As illustrated in FIG. 30, each of the dummy electrodes TDLBd includesthin line pieces 88 a and thin line pieces 88 b. The thin line piece 88a is provided in a manner inclined in the same direction as that of thesignal lines SGL and a plurality of the thin line pieces 88 a arearranged with the same pitch as that of the signal lines SGL. The thinline piece 88 b is provided in a manner inclined in the same directionas that of the gate lines GCL and a plurality of the thin line pieces 88b are arranged with the same pitch as that of the gate lines GCL. Thethin line piece 88 a and the thin line piece 88 b are alternatelyarranged in the first direction Dx spaced from each other.

The dummy electrodes TDLBd are arranged in between the third electrodesTDLB arranged in the second direction Dy. The dummy electrodes TDLBd arearranged in a manner spaced apart from the third electrodes TDLB and arein a floating state, in which no voltage signal is supplied, and theirpotential is not fixed, at the time of touch detection.

Also in the present embodiment, capacitances are generated atintersections of the third electrodes TDLB and the drive electrodes 33A(refer to FIGS. 24 and 26), and touch detection is enabled based on thebasic principle of touch detection of the mutual capacitance type. Theelectric lines of force Em of the fringe electric field pass through thedummy electrode areas Rda to reach above the first face 102 a of thesecond cover base 102.

In the present embodiment, the detection controller 11A (refer to FIG.19) performs the touch detection operation by the mutual capacitancetype with the third electrodes TDLB and the drive electrodes 33A in thearea that does not overlap with the fingerprint detection area Fd in thetransmissive area Ad, and performs the touch detection operation of thefingerprint sensor 20 in the fingerprint detection area Fd. The touchdetector 40A (refer to FIG. 19) performs touch detection in the areathat does not overlap with the fingerprint detection area Fd in thetransmissive area Ad based on the detection signal VdetA output from thethird electrodes TDLB. The touch detector 40A further performs touchdetection in the fingerprint detection area Fd based on the detectionsignal Vdet output from the first electrodes 25. With this operation,touch detection in the entire transmissive area Ad is enabled. Thefingerprint sensor 20 and the third electrodes TDLB of the cover member10H can thus perform touch detection in the entire transmissive area Ad.

As illustrated in FIG. 31, the third electrodes TDLB and the dummyelectrodes TDLBd are provided on the same layer as the signal lines SGL.The third electrodes TDLB and the dummy electrodes TDLBd are provided onthe first alkali-free glass layer 104 of the first cover base 101 withthe insulating layer 58 a and the insulating layer 58 b interposedtherebetween. The insulating layer 57 is provided on the thirdelectrodes TDLB and the dummy electrodes TDLBd. In other words, theflattening layer 59 and the insulating layer 58 c are not provided onthe third electrodes TDLB and the dummy electrodes TDLBd, whereas theinsulating layer 58 b, the flattening layer 59, and the insulating layer58 c form a step ST. The insulating layer 57 covers the first electrodes25, the third electrodes TDLB, and the dummy electrodes TDLBd and isprovided continuously on a side face of the flattening layer 59 of thestep ST and a side face of the insulating layer 58 c.

The second cover base 102 is laminated on the insulating layer 57 withthe adhesive layer 71 interposed therebetween. As described above, theoptical clear resin (OCR) as a liquid UV-curable resin is used for theadhesive layer 71, whereby the step ST is flattened, and the secondcover base 102 is laminated to be flat across the fingerprint detectionarea Fd, the dummy electrode areas Rda, and the detection electrode areaRta.

In the cover member 10H of the present embodiment, the metallic wires 86a and 86 b of the third electrodes TDLB and the thin line pieces 88 aand the thin line pieces 88 b of the dummy electrodes TDLBd are providedin the same direction and with the same pitch as those of the signallines SGL and the gate lines GCL of the fingerprint sensor 20. With thisconfiguration, a difference in light transmittance among the fingerprintdetection area Fd, the dummy electrode areas Rda, and the detectionelectrode area Rta can be reduced, whereby the visibility of the entiretransmissive area Ad can be improved. The third electrodes TDLB and thedummy electrodes TDLBd are provided on the same layer as the signallines SGL. With this configuration, the third electrodes TDLB and thedummy electrodes TDLBd can be formed using the same material and in thesame process as those of the signal lines SGL.

Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 32 is a block diagram of a configuration example of a detectionapparatus that a display apparatus according to a fourth embodimentincludes. In this display apparatus 1I of the present embodiment, adetection apparatus 1001 includes a cover member 10I, the detectioncontroller 11, the gate driver 12, the first electrode driver 14, asecond electrode driver 14B, the detector 40, and the touch detector40A. In the present embodiment, the cover member 10I is a member inwhich a fingerprint sensor 201 configured to detect a fingerprint of afinger and a touch sensor 501 configured to detect the closeness and theposition of a finger are integral with each other.

The detection controller 11, the gate driver 12, and the first electrodedriver 14 perform operations similar to those of the first embodiment.The second electrode driver 14B is a circuit that supplies a drivesignal Vt to the second electrode 26 of the touch sensor 501 based onthe control signal supplied from the detection controller 11. The touchsensor 501 outputs the detection signal VdetA based on the capacitancechange of the second electrode 26 to the touch detector 40A. The touchdetector 40A can detect the position of an object that comes intocontact with or close to the cover member 10I based on the detectionsignal VdetA.

FIG. 33 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of thedisplay apparatus according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 34 is a planview of the cover member according to the fourth embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 33, in the display apparatus 1I of the presentembodiment, the fingerprint sensor 201 is provided on the firstalkali-free glass layer 104 of the first cover base 101 overlapping withthe entire transmissive area Ad. An organic EL display panel 130 islaminated on the second alkali-free glass layer 105 of the first coverbase 101 with an adhesive layer 172 interposed therebetween.

The organic EL display panel 130 includes a circuit board 130A, alight-emitting layer 107, a sealing layer 106, and a polarizing plate135. The light-emitting layer 107 includes a plurality of light-emittingdevices (organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)) as self-light-emittingelements; light originating from the light-emitting devices is emittedtoward the cover member 10I, and an image is displayed. The organic ELdisplay panel 130 may emit white light from the light-emitting layer 107to cause the white light to pass through color filters (not illustrated)to achieve colorization or may cause the respective light-emittingdevices of the light-emitting layer 107 to emit light of respective RGBcolors without providing any color filter.

The circuit board 130A includes switching elements for performingdisplay drive and various signal lines. A flexible board 175 is coupledto the circuit board 130A, to which a control signal is supplied from anexternal control circuit via the flexible board 175. The sealing layer106 is provided on the light-emitting layer 107 and has a function oflessening the transmission of water and the like to protect thelight-emitting devices (the OLEDs) of the light-emitting layer 107. Thepolarizing plate 135 is a circularly polarizing plate including a phasedifference plate and a polarizing plate, for example, and is provided inorder to lessen the reflection of external light. However, thepolarizing plate 135 is not necessarily provided.

Although the organic EL display panel 130 is what is called a topemission type, this is not limiting; it may be a bottom emission type.In place of the organic EL display panel 130, the display panel 30 asthe liquid crystal panel in which the liquid crystal display element isused as the display functional layer illustrated in the first embodimentmay be provided.

As illustrated in FIG. 34, a plurality of second electrodes 26A arearranged in a matrix manner in a direction along the long side of thetransmissive area Ad and a direction along the short side thereof. Thesecond electrodes 26A are each rectangular-shaped. The first electrodes25 are provided overlapping with the second electrodes 26A in thetransmissive area Ad. The first electrodes 25 are each rhombic-shapedand are arranged so as to cause the respective sides of the rhombicshape to face each other similarly to the above configuration. Each ofthe first electrodes 25 has a smaller area than the second electrode26A, and many first electrodes 25 are arranged overlapping with onesecond electrode 26A. Although FIG. 34 illustrates only part of thefirst electrodes 25 and part of the second electrodes 26A for easyviewing of the drawing, the first electrodes 25 and the secondelectrodes 26A may be provided in the entire transmissive area Ad. Thefirst electrodes 25 may be provided at positions overlapping withpartial second electrodes 26A.

In the present embodiment, the first electrodes 25 function as thedetection electrodes of the fingerprint sensor 201. The secondelectrodes 26A function as both the shield electrodes of the fingerprintsensor 201 and the detection electrodes of the touch sensor 501.

FIG. 35 is a plan view schematically illustrating an entireconfiguration of the second electrodes and conductive wires. FIG. 36 isa plan view schematically illustrating an entire configuration of thefirst electrodes, the second electrodes, the gate lines, and the signallines. As illustrated in FIG. 35, respective conductive wires 51 arecoupled to the second electrodes 26A arranged in a matrix manner throughrespective contact holes H1 a. In the present embodiment, one conductivewire 51 is coupled to one second electrode 26A. The conductive wires 51are inclined relative to the arrangement direction of the row directionof the second electrodes 26A in the transmissive area Ad and are routedfrom the transmissive area Ad to the frame area Gd. The conductive wires51 are electrically coupled to the flexible board 76 (refer to FIG. 34)to be coupled to control circuits such as the IC 18 for detection (referto FIG. 2).

The drive signal Vt is supplied from the second electrode driver 14B tothe conductive wires 51. The detection signal VdetA responsive to achange in the self capacitance of the second electrodes 26A is suppliedto the touch detector 40A via the conductive wires 51. With thisoperation, an external object that comes into contact with or close tothe cover member 10I can be detected based on the touch detectionprinciple of the self-capacitance type. The drive signal Vt may besupplied to all the second electrodes 26A simultaneously or suppliedthereto successively by providing a scanner circuit in the secondelectrode driver 14B. The second electrodes 26A are arranged in almostthe entire transmissive area Ad. With this configuration, the touchdetector 40A can detect the position of the external object that comesinto contact with or close to the transmissive area Ad based on thedetection signal VdetA from the respective second electrodes 26A.

As illustrated in FIG. 36, the gate lines GCL and the signal lines SGLare provided overlapping with the second electrodes 26A. The gate linesGCL are inclined relative to the arrangement direction of the rowdirection of the second electrodes 26A. The signal lines SGL areinclined in a direction opposite to the gate lines GCL relative to thearrangement direction of the row direction of the second electrodes 26A.The signal lines SGL and the gate lines GCL cross each other to bearranged in a mesh manner. The rhombic-shaped first electrodes 25 areprovided in the respective areas surrounded by the signal lines SGL andthe gate lines GCL. Although each of the first electrodes 25 isrhombic-shaped, in which the four sides are the same in length, this isnot limiting; it may be parallelogrammatic-shaped, rectangular-shaped,or square-shaped, for example.

Also in the present embodiment, similarly to the configurationillustrated in FIG. 9 to FIG. 11, the first switching elements Tr andthe second switching elements Trx (omitted in FIG. 36) are providedcorresponding to the respective first electrodes 25, and the fingerprintdetection operation is performed based on the capacitance change of thefirst electrodes 25.

As illustrated in FIG. 36, the gate lines GCL are coupled to a gatescanner 12B of the gate driver 12 provided in the frame area Gd. Thegate scanner 12B successively selects the gate lines GCL. A scan signalgenerator 12C supplies the scan signal Vscan to the gate line GCLselected by the gate scanner 12B. The first electrodes 25 arranged alongthe gate lines GCL are selected as the first electrode block 25A as theobject to be detected, and a high-level scan signal Vscan is supplied tothe first switching elements Tr (refer to FIG. 9 and FIG. 11)corresponding to the respective first electrodes 25 of the firstelectrode block 25A.

The signal lines SGL are coupled to a multiplexer 16A of the firstelectrode driver 14 provided in the frame area Gd. The multiplexer 16Asuccessively selects the signal lines SGL. A drive signal generator 16Bsupplies the drive signal Vf to the selected signal line SGL via themultiplexer 16A. With this operation, the drive signal Vf is supplied tothe respective first electrodes 25 of the first electrode block 25A asthe object to be detected via the signal lines SGL and the firstswitching elements Tr (refer to FIG. 9 and FIG. 11). The drive signal Vfis supplied, whereby the detection signal Vdet responsive to thecapacitance changes of the respective first electrodes 25 is output fromthe respective first electrodes 25 to the detector 40 (refer to FIG.32), whereby the fingerprint of the finger is detected. At the time ofthe detection operation by the first electrodes 25, the guard signalVsgl that is in sync with and has the same waveform as the drive signalVf is supplied to the respective second electrodes 26A, whereby therespective second electrodes 26A function as shield electrodes.

The cover member 10I of the present embodiment includes the touch sensor501 and the fingerprint sensor 201. With this configuration, thedetection controller 11 acquires the position coordinates of a fingerdetected by the touch sensor 501, and the fingerprint sensor 201 canperform fingerprint detection at a part corresponding to the positioncoordinates of the finger. In the touch detection operation, when thecontact or closeness of a finger Fg is detected at a positionoverlapping with a second electrode 26Aa illustrated in FIG. 35, forexample, the first electrode 25 at a position overlapping with thissecond electrode 26Aa is driven to perform fingerprint detection.

In other words, in the fingerprint detection operation, the gate scanner12B illustrated in FIG. 36 selects only the gate lines GCL that overlapwith the second electrode 26Aa on which the finger Fg has been detectedand successively scans the gate lines GCL. The gate lines GCL that donot overlap with the second electrode 26Aa are not selected, and thescan signal Vscan is not supplied thereto. The multiplexer 16A selectsonly the signal lines SGL that overlap with the second electrode 26Aaand successively drives the first electrodes 25 that are arrangedoverlapping with the second electrode 26Aa. The signal lines SGL that donot overlap with the second electrode 26Aa are not selected. With thisoperation, the fingerprint can be detected at the position with which orto which the finger Fg has come into contact or close.

Thus, the fingerprint detection operation can be performed at theposition in which the contact or closeness of the finger Fg has beendetected. Consequently, it is not necessary to perform the fingerprintdetection operation in the entire transmissive area Ad or the entirefingerprint detection area Fd, whereby the time required for detectioncan be reduced, and the load of arithmetic processing on the detector 40can be reduced.

Fifth Embodiment

FIG. 37 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of adisplay apparatus according to a fifth embodiment. In this displayapparatus 1J of the present embodiment, a resin film is used for asecond cover base 102A of a cover member 10J. A polyimide resin or anacrylic resin is used for the second cover base 102A, for example. Aresin film is used for the second cover base 102A. Consequently,compared with a case in which a glass substrate is used, the likelihoodof breakage of the second cover base 102A when an impact is applied islessened, for example, and favorable records can be achieved in a droptest and a steel ball drop test, for example.

Compared with a case in which a glass substrate is used, a thickness ts3of the second cover base 102A can be easily reduced; the thickness ts3can be a thickness of 0.2 mm or less, for example. Consequently, thedistance between a first face 102Aa of the second cover base 102A as adetection face and the first electrodes 25 (omitted in FIG. 37) of thefingerprint sensor 20 can be reduced, and favorable detectionperformance can be achieved.

The decoration layer 110 is provided on a second face 102Ab of thesecond cover base 102A in the frame area Gd. The decoration layer 110can be formed by printing using colored ink.

The flexible board 76 is provided on the second alkali-free glass layer105 of the first cover base 101. The first cover base 101 has a throughhole TH passing through in a thickness direction, and the flexible board76 and the fingerprint sensor 20 are electrically coupled to each otherthrough the through hole TH. The flexible board 76 is provided on a sideof the first cover base 101 opposite to the fingerprint sensor 20. Withthis configuration, the spacing between the first cover base 101 and thesecond cover base 102A can be reduced, whereby the distance between thefirst face 102Aa and the first electrodes 25 (omitted in FIG. 37) of thefingerprint sensor 20 can be reduced.

Sixth Embodiment

FIG. 38 is a sectional view of a schematic sectional structure of adisplay apparatus according to a sixth embodiment. FIG. 39 is asectional view of a schematic sectional structure of a fingerprintsensor according to the sixth embodiment. In this display apparatus 1Kof the present embodiment, a cover member 10K includes a protectivelayer 90 in place of the second cover bases 102 and 102A. An upper face90 a of the protective layer 90 is a detection face for detecting theunevenness of the surface of an object to be detected such as afingerprint of a finger that comes into contact therewith or closethereto.

As illustrated in FIG. 38, the fingerprint sensor 20 and a decorationlayer 110A are provided on the first alkali-free glass layer 104 of thefirst cover base 101. For the fingerprint sensor 20, any of thefingerprint sensors 20, 20A to 20D, and 20I illustrated in theembodiments and the modifications can be used. The decoration layer 110Acan be formed by printing or may be formed by sputtering, vapordeposition, or the like. The flexible board 76 is coupled to thefingerprint sensor 20 through the through hole TH provided in the firstcover base 101.

The protective layer 90 is provided around the first cover base 101covering the fingerprint sensor 20 and the decoration layer 110A. Inother words, the protective layer 90 is provided continuously adjacentto the first alkali-free glass layer 104, the second alkali-free glasslayer 105, and a side face 101 c of the first cover base 101. Theprotective layer 90 is provided on the entire circumference of the firstcover base 101, and the protective layer 90 is provided also on an endface of the alkali glass layer 103. Consequently, the occurrence ofmicrocracks on the end face is lessened, whereby the first cover base101 can be increased in strength.

An inorganic-organic copolymer such as an organic film containingsilicon (Si) can be used for the protective layer 90, for example. Theprotective layer 90 is formed to have a more homogeneous film thicknessby dipping through which the first cover base 101 provided with thefingerprint sensor 20 is immersed into a solution containing theinorganic-organic copolymer and then raised at a certain speed. A resinmaterial may be used for the protective layer 90. Using theinorganic-organic copolymer can increase hardness.

As illustrated in FIG. 39, a configuration of the first switchingelements Tr, the second switching elements Trx, the first electrodes 25,the second electrode 26, and the like of the present embodiment issimilar to the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, theprotective layer 90 is provided on the first electrodes 25 with theinsulating layer 57 interposed therebetween. Thus, the second cover base102 and the adhesive layer 71 are not provided on the first electrodes25. Consequently, the distance between the upper face 90 a of theprotective layer 90 and the first electrodes 25 can be reduced.Consequently, the detection performance of the fingerprint sensor 20 canbe increased.

In the present embodiment, an inorganic insulating material such assilicon oxide (SiO2) or silicon nitride (SiN) is used as a flatteninglayer 59 a provided on the source electrode 62 (the signal line SGL),the drain electrodes 63 and 67, and the source electrode 66. With thisconfiguration, the fingerprint sensor 20 does not contain any organicresin, and a manufacturing process can be simplified.

FIG. 40 is an illustrative diagram for illustrating the relation betweenthe arrangement of pixels of a display apparatus and the arrangement ofdrive electrodes and detection electrodes according to a modification ofthe sixth embodiment. FIG. 41 is a plan view schematically illustratinga coupling structure of the drive electrodes and drive signal lines anda coupling structure of the detection electrodes and detection linesaccording to the modification of the sixth embodiment. FIG. 42 is asectional view along the line XLII-XLII′ in FIG. 41. FIG. 43 is asectional view along the line XLIII-XLIII′ in FIG. 41.

As illustrated in FIG. 40, in a fingerprint sensor 20L of a cover member10L of the present modification, drive electrodes 25T and detectionelectrodes 25R are alternately arranged in a matrix manner in thetransmissive area Ad of the first cover base 101 in place of the firstelectrodes 25. The drive electrodes 25T and the detection electrodes 25Rare each square-shaped and are arranged so as to cause one side of thedrive electrodes 25T and one side of the detection electrodes 25R toface each other. In FIG. 40, the drive electrodes 25T are illustrated byhatching.

In the transmissive area Ad of the first cover base 101, drive signallines GCLA and detection lines SGLA are arranged crossing each other.The drive electrodes 25T or the detection electrodes 25R are arranged inthe respective areas surrounded by drive signal lines GCLA and detectionlines SGLA. The drive electrodes 25T and the detection electrodes 25Rare alternately arranged along the drive signal lines GCLA, and thedrive electrodes 25T and the detection electrodes 25R are alternatelyarranged along the detection lines SGLA.

As illustrated in FIG. 41, a coupling part 25Ta that protrudes from partof one side of a drive electrode 25T to a position overlapping with adrive signal line GCLA is provided. The coupling part 25Ta is coupled tothe drive signal line GCLA through a contact hole H22. The drive signallines GCLA are coupled to the first electrode driver 14 provided in theframe area Gd. With this configuration, the drive electrodes 25T aresupplied with the drive signal Vf from the first electrode driver 14 viathe drive signal lines GCLA.

A coupling part 25Ra that protrudes from part of one side of a detectionelectrode 25R to a position overlapping with a detection line SGLA isprovided. The coupling part 25Ra is coupled to the detection line SGLAthrough a contact hole H21. The detection lines SGLA are coupled to adetection line selection circuit 17 provided in the frame area Gd.

When the drive signal Vf is supplied to the drive electrodes 25T, afringe electric field is generated in between the drive electrodes 25Tand the detection electrodes 25R that are adjacent to each other, and acapacitance between the drive electrodes 25T and the detectionelectrodes 25R changes by the unevenness of a finger that comes intocontact with or close to the cover member 10L. The detection electrodes25R output the detection signal Vdet responsive to the capacitancechange between the drive electrodes 25T and the detection electrodes 25Rto the detector 40 (refer to FIG. 5) via the detection lines SGLA. Thefirst electrode driver 14 successively selects the drive signal linesGCLA to drive the drive electrodes 25T, and the detection line selectioncircuit 17 successively selects the detection lines SGLA and suppliesthe detection signal Vdet output from the detection electrodes 25R tothe detector 40 (refer to FIG. 5). With this operation, based on thebasic principle of touch detection of the mutual capacitance type, theunevenness of the surface of the object to be detected such as afingerprint of a finger that comes into contact with or close to thecover member 10L can be detected. In other words, the drive electrodes25T correspond to the drive electrode E2 in the basic principle of touchdetection of the mutual capacitance type, whereas the detectionelectrodes 25R correspond to the detection electrode E3.

In the present embodiment, with a plurality of drive electrodes 25Tcoupled to one drive signal line GCLA as one drive electrode block, thefirst electrode driver 14 can successively drive each of the driveelectrode blocks. The first electrode driver 14 may also collectivelydrive the drive electrode blocks. The detection line selection circuit17 may successively select the detection electrode 25R adjacent to thedrive electrode 25T as an object to be driven in a direction along onedrive signal line GCLA or may successively select the detectionelectrode 25R adjacent to the drive electrode 25T as an object to bedriven in a direction along one detection line SGLA.

The fingerprint sensor 20 performs the detection operation based on thebasic principle of touch detection of the self-capacitance type. In thepresent modification, the distance between the upper face 90 a of theprotective layer 90 and the first electrodes 25 can be reduced. Withthis configuration, the electric lines of force of the fringe electricfield generated in between the drive electrodes 25T and the detectionelectrodes 25R reach above the upper face 90 a of the protective layer90. Consequently, the fingerprint sensor 20L of the present modificationcan perform fingerprint detection based on the basic principle of touchdetection of the mutual capacitance type.

FIG. 42 is a sectional view schematically illustrating a couplingstructure of a switching element Tr1 included in the first electrodedriver 14 and the drive electrode 25T. FIG. 43 is a sectional viewschematically illustrating a coupling structure of a switching elementTr2 included in the detection line selection circuit 17 and thedetection electrode 25R. As illustrated in FIG. 42, the switchingelement Tr1 is provided on the first alkali-free glass layer 104 of thefirst cover base 101. Specifically, a gate electrode 164 is provided onthe first alkali-free glass layer 104. On the upper side of the gateelectrode 164, a semiconductor layer 161 is provided with the insulatinglayer 58 a interposed therebetween. On the upper side of thesemiconductor layer 161, a drain electrode 163, the drive signal lineGCLA, and a source electrode 162 are provided with the insulating layer58 b interposed therebetween. On the upper side of the drain electrode163, the drive signal line GCLA, and the source electrode 162, the driveelectrode 25T is provided with the flattening layer 59 a interposedtherebetween.

The source electrode 162 and the semiconductor layer 161 are coupled toeach other through a contact hole H23. The semiconductor layer 161 andthe drive signal line GCLA are coupled to each other through a contacthole H24. A part of the drive signal line GCLA overlapping with thesemiconductor layer 161 functions as the drain electrode 163. The drivesignal line GCLA and the drive electrode 25T are coupled to each otherthrough the contact hole H22. The drive electrode 25T is thus coupled tothe switching element Tr1 via the drive signal line GCLA.

As illustrated in FIG. 43, the switching element Tr2 included in thedetection line selection circuit 17 is provided on the first alkali-freeglass layer 104 of the first cover base 101. Specifically, a gateelectrode 168 and the detection line SGLA are provided on the firstalkali-free glass layer 104. On the upper side of the gate electrode 168and the detection line SGLA, a semiconductor layer 165 is provided withthe insulating layer 58 a interposed therebetween. On the upper side ofthe semiconductor layer 165, a drain electrode 167 and a sourceelectrode 166 are provided with the insulating layer 58 b interposedtherebetween. On the upper side of the drain electrode 167 and thesource electrode 166, the detection electrode 25R is provided with theflattening layer 59 a interposed therebetween.

The source electrode 166 and the semiconductor layer 165 are coupled toeach other through a contact hole H26. The semiconductor layer 165 andthe drain electrode 167 are coupled to each other through a contact holeH27. The drain electrode 167 and the detection line SGLA are coupled toeach other through a contact hole H25. The detection line SGLA and thedetection electrode 25R are coupled to each other through the contacthole H21. The detection electrode 25R is thus coupled to the switchingelement Tr2 via the detection line SGLA.

As illustrated in FIG. 42 and FIG. 43, the drive electrode 25T and thedetection electrode 25R are provided on the same layer and are providedon a layer different from the drive signal line GCLA and the detectionline SGLA. The drive signal line GCLA and the detection line SGLA areprovided on different layers each other. With this configuration, at anintersection Lx illustrated in FIG. 40, the drive signal line GCLA andthe detection line SGLA are provided so as to separate from each other.The drive electrode 25T and the detection electrode 25R may be providedon different layers. The drive signal line GCLA and the detection lineSGLA can be provided on the same layer to make bridge coupling at theintersection Lx.

The following describes the relation between the arrangement of thepixels Pix and the arrangement of the drive electrodes 25T and thedetection electrodes 25R. As illustrated in FIG. 40, in the transmissivearea Ad, the pixels Pix of the display panel 30 are arranged in both thefirst direction Dx (a line direction) and the second direction Dy (a rowdirection). FIG. 40 illustrates only part of the pixels Pix.

Each of the pixels Pix includes a sub-pixel corresponding to a red colorfilter 37R, a sub-pixel corresponding to a green color filter 37G, and asub-pixel corresponding to a blue color filter 37B as one group. Thepixels Pix may be a combination of other colors or a combination of fouror more colors. As illustrated in FIG. 40, a pitch with which the pixelsPix are repeatedly arranged in the first direction Dx is defined as anarrangement pitch Pp. A direction along an arrangement direction inwhich the pixels Pix are repeatedly arranged in the second direction Dyis defined as a pixel arrangement direction PL.

In a display apparatus 1L of the present embodiment, the driveelectrodes 25T and the detection electrodes 25R of the fingerprintsensor 20L are arranged in a manner inclined relative to the pixelarrangement direction PL. An angle formed by one side of the detectionelectrode 25R and the pixel arrangement direction PL is defined as anangle θ₁. The angle θ₁ in the present embodiment is preferably in therange of 27 degrees to 38 degrees. In this case, the detection linesSGLA are inclined relative to the pixel arrangement direction PL by theangle θ₁. The drive signal lines GCLA are orthogonal to the detectionlines SGLA and are inclined relative to the pixel arrangement directionPL by an angle of (90 degrees-θ₁).

The drive signal lines GCLA and the detection lines SGLA are thusprovided in a manner inclined relative to the pixel arrangementdirection PL of the pixels Pix. Consequently, the arrangement of theintersections Lx of the drive signal lines GCLA and the detection linesSGLA deviates from the arrangement of the pixels Pix in the firstdirection Dx (the line direction) and the arrangement of the pixels Pixin the second direction Dy (the row direction). Consequently, theoccurrence of moire can be lessened. By setting the angle θ₁ to therange of 27 degrees to 38 degrees, the occurrence of moire can belessened more effectively.

In the present embodiment, at the intersections Lx of the drive signallines GCLA and the detection lines SGLA, the drive signal lines GCLA andthe detection lines SGLA overlap with each other. Consequently, lighttransmittance at the intersections Lx is reduced. Consequently, moiremay occur depending on the relation between an arrangement direction inwhich the intersections Lx are repeatedly arranged and the pixelarrangement direction PL of the pixels Pix. Moire may occur depending onthe relation between the arrangement pitch in which the intersections Lxare repeatedly arranged and the arrangement pitch Pp of the pixels Pix.

As illustrated in FIG. 40, a direction in which the intersections Lx arerepeatedly arranged in a diagonal direction of the drive electrode 25Tis defined as an arrangement direction Lxa. A direction in which theintersections Lx are repeatedly arranged in a diagonal direction of thedetection electrode 25R is defined as an arrangement direction Lxb. Asdescribed above, the drive electrodes 25T and the detection electrodes25R are arranged in a manner inclined relative to the pixel arrangementdirection PL by the angle θ₁. With this configuration, the arrangementdirection Lxa and the arrangement direction Lxb of the intersections Lxare each inclined relative to the pixel arrangement direction PL of thepixels Pix. Consequently, the occurrence of moire caused by thearrangement direction Lxa and the arrangement direction Lxb of theintersections Lx and the pixel arrangement direction PL of the pixelsPix can be lessened.

As illustrated in FIG. 40, an arrangement pitch of the intersections Lxin the first direction Dx in the intersections Lx arranged along onedetection line SGLA is defined as an arrangement pitch Px. Anarrangement pitch of the intersections Lx in the second direction Dy inthe intersections Lx arranged along one drive signal line GCLA isdefined as an arrangement pitch Py.

In the present embodiment, the arrangement pitch Px and the arrangementpitch Py of the intersections Lx are each a half-integral multiple (±0.1multiple) of the arrangement pitch Pp of the pixels Pix. In other words,the arrangement pitch Px and the arrangement pitch Py satisfy therelation Px, Py=Pp×((n+½)±0.1), where n=1, 2, 3, . . . . Specifically,the arrangement pitch Px and the arrangement pitch Py of theintersections Lx are preferably 1.4 multiple, 1.6 multiple, 2.4multiple, or 2.6 multiple, . . . of the arrangement pitch Pp of thepixels Pix.

The display apparatus 1L of the present embodiment thus has thearrangement pitch Px and the arrangement pitch Py of the intersectionsLx as pitches deviating from the arrangement pitch Pp of the pixels Pix,whereby the occurrence of moire can be lessened.

In the present embodiment, the shape, the arrangement, and the like ofthe drive electrodes 25T and the detection electrodes 25R can bemodified as appropriate. A method for driving the drive electrodes 25T,the order of drive, and detection operation such as the order ofselection of the detection electrodes 25R can also be modified asappropriate. Although the protective layer 90 covers the entirecircumference of the first cover base 101, the protective layer 90 maybe provided at part of the first cover base 101 such as a case in whichthe protective layer 90 is provided only on the first alkali-free glasslayer 104 side of the first cover base 101.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.The details disclosed in the embodiments are only by way of example, andvarious modifications can be made without departing from the gist of thepresent invention. Appropriate modifications made without departing fromthe gist of the present invention also naturally belong to the technicalscope of the present invention. Without departing from the gist of theembodiments and the modifications, at least one of various omissions,replacements, and modifications of the components can be made.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cover member comprising: a first cover base; asensor that is provided on the first cover base and comprises aplurality of first electrodes, the first electrodes being configured todetect unevenness of a surface of an object to be detected that comesinto contact with or close to the first cover base; a flexible board, afirst side of the flexible board being located next to the first coverbase; and a second cover base facing the first cover base; wherein thesecond cover base overlaps the first side of the flexible board abovethe first cover base.
 2. The cover member according to claim 1, furthercomprising, an adhesive layer provided between the first electrodes andthe first side of the flexible board and the second cover base.
 3. Thecover member according to claim 2, further comprising, a decorationlayer that is provided on a surrounding area of the second cover base,wherein the decoration layer covers the first side of the flexibleboard.
 4. The cover member according to claim 3, wherein the decorationlayer defines a transmissive area and a frame area that is outside thetransmissive area, and the decoration layer overlaps a part of the firstelectrodes and the first side of the flexible board.
 5. The cover memberaccording to claim 4, wherein the sensor overlaps a part of thetransmissive area.
 6. The cover member according to claim 5, wherein theadhesive layer is provided to the transmissive area, and a thickness ofthe adhesive layer facing the first cover base via the sensoroverlapping being thinner than a thickness of the adhesive layer facingthe first cover base directly.
 7. The cover member according to claim 4,wherein the sensor overlaps all of the transmissive area.
 8. The covermember according to claim 1, wherein the sensor further comprises a thinfilm transistor layer provided on the first cover base, the plurality ofthe first electrodes are provided on the thin film transistor layer, andthe first side of the flexible board is fixed on the thin filmtransistor layer.
 9. The cover member according to claim 8, wherein thethin film transistor layer includes a plurality of switching elementsconnected with the plurality of the first electrodes respectively, andthe first electrodes are supplied with a drive signal via the switchingelements and configured to output a detection signal responsive to acapacitance change between the first electrodes and the object to bedetected.
 10. The cover member according to claim 9, wherein the sensorfurther comprises gate lines configured to supply a scan signal thatscans the plurality of the switching elements, and signal linesconfigured to supply a signal to the plurality of the switchingelements.
 11. The cover member according to claim 10, wherein the sensorfurther comprises a gate driver connected to the gate lines, and a firstelectrode driver connected to the signal lines, and at least one of thegate driver and the first electrode driver is located at a positionbetween the plurality of the first electrodes and the flexible board.12. The cover member according to claim 10, wherein the first cover basecomprises: an alkali glass layer; a first alkali-free glass layerprovided on one face of the alkali glass layer; and a second alkali-freeglass layer that is provided on another face of the alkali glass layer,and the gate lines are directly formed on the first alkali-free glasslayer.
 13. The cover member according to claim 12, wherein the firstalkali-free glass layer has a coefficient of thermal expansionsubstantially the same as a coefficient of thermal expansion of thesecond alkali-free glass layer and has a coefficient of thermalexpansion smaller than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the alkaliglass layer.
 14. The cover member according to claim 10, wherein thefirst cover base comprises: an alkali glass layer; a first alkali-freeglass layer provided on one face of the alkali glass layer; and a secondalkali-free glass layer that is provided on another face of the alkaliglass layer, and the gate lines are formed on the first alkali-freeglass layer via a passivation film.
 15. The cover member according toclaim 14, wherein the first alkali-free glass layer has a coefficient ofthermal expansion substantially the same as a coefficient of thermalexpansion of the second alkali-free glass layer and has a coefficient ofthermal expansion smaller than a coefficient of thermal expansion of thealkali glass layer.
 16. The cover member according to claim 1, whereinthe sensor has a plurality of second electrodes arranged in a matrixmanner and facing the first electrodes, and the first electrodes areprovided at positions further away from the first cover base than thesecond electrodes in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the firstcover base.
 17. The cover member according to claim 16, wherein thesurface of the object is detected based on a detection signal outputbased on a capacitance change of the second electrodes.
 18. The covermember according to claim 16, wherein at least one of the secondelectrodes is supplied with a guard signal for lessening a change incapacitance between the second electrode and the first electrodes. 19.The cover member according to claim 1, wherein the first electrodescomprise first detection electrodes to which detection lines are coupledand first drive electrodes to which drive signal lines are coupled, thesensor comprises a drive circuit that comprises a switching elementconfigured to select the drive signal lines and configured to supply adrive signal to the first drive electrodes via the drive signal lines,and the first detection electrodes are configured to output a detectionsignal based on a capacitance change between the first detectionelectrodes and the first drive electrodes.
 20. The cover memberaccording to claim 1, wherein the second cover base is formed of glassthinner than the first cover base.
 21. The cover member according toclaim 1, wherein the second cover base is a resin film.